UC-NRLF 


SB    51    2  ID 


O 


THE  LIBRARY 
*  OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


PRESENTED  BY 

PROF.  CHARLES  A.  KOFOID  AND 
MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


THE  STORY  OF 

AN  OUTING 


BY 

A.  BARTON  HEPBURN 


WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS 
FROM  PHOTOGRAPHS 


HARPER  y  BROTHERS    PUBLISHERS 

NEW    YORK     AND     LONDON 

MCMXIII 


COPYRIGHT 
PRINTED   IN 


M-N 


because  of  its  merits,  but  because  of  the  subject 
matter,  I  dedicate  this  diary  to  Irving  Bacheller,  old-time 
friend,  long-time  chum,  all-time  good  fellow,  successful 
author,  jovial  companion,  good  citizen.  He  ought  to  have 
been  a  member  of  the  party  and  told  the  story;  then  it 

would  be  worth  while. 

A.  BARTON  HEPBURN 


CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

I.  THE  CALL  OF  THE  WILD I 

II.  THE  START 9 

III.  THE  PANORAMA 15 

IV.  THE  COUNTRY 24 

V.  INDUSTRIES  AND  NATIVES 30 

VI.  THE  TREK 40 

VII.  A  CHANGE  OF  BASE 49 

VIII.  ANOTHER  CHANGE — LIONS 61 

IX.  ANOTHER  TREK — HIPPO — ANTS 70 

X.  REMINISCENCES — TICKS — BIRDS 75 

XI.  ROUNDING-UP 84 

XII.  EXPENSE 105 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

THE  KING  OF  BEASTS Frontispiece 

LOWER  WATER-TANK  AT  ADEN Page      n 

ONE  OF  THE  UPPER  WATER-TANKS "        n 

HOTEL  AT  BOMBASA  AND  BAOBAB-TREE 13 

RAILWAY  STATION  AND  FRUIT-STAND 16 

NATIVE  SOLDIER,  SHOWING  BARE  FEET,  BLUE  PUTTEES, 

TRUNKS,  SASH,  SHIRT,  AND  FEZ 17 

A  SINGLE  CONGONI "        18 

THOMSON'S  GAZELLE "        19 

GRANT'S  GAZELLE 19 

AN  IMPALA "        20 

THE  WILDEBEEST "        21 

ZEBRA 22 

TOTO  (BABY  RHINO)  AND  MAJOR  KIRKWOOD  ....  "        22 
SHOWING    THE    OPEN    CHARACTER    OF    THE    COUNTRY. 
THESE  Two  PICTURES  WERE  TAKEN  FROM  THE  SAME 
POINT,   LOOKING    IN   OPPOSITE    DIRECTIONS,    AND 

COVERING  A  RANGE  OF  SEVEN  OR  EIGHT  MILES  .     .  25 

SHOWING  THE  OPEN  CHARACTER  OF  WOODED  HILLS    .     .  27 
TYPICAL    NEGRO    HUTS     MADE     OF    UPRIGHT    STICKS 

PLASTERED  WITH  MUD  AND  THATCHED  WITH  REEDS  "        27 

BUSH  BUCK "        29 

WATER  BUCK "        29 

FOUR  OF  THE  "FOUR  HUNDRED" "        31 

MORE  OF  THE  "FouR  HUNDRED" "        33 

MILLING  INDUSTRY  IN  AFRICA "        35 

MATERNITY "        35 

CELEBRATING  THE  KILLING  OF  MY  LION 37 

LESSER  KUDU "       37 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

TOPI page  41 

ORYX "  41 

WILDEBEEST  SHOT  AT  Ju  JA "  43 

INTERIOR  VIEW  OF  TENT "  47 

TENTS  SHOWING  THE  USUAL  AFRICAN  LAWN  ....  "  47 
THE    CROCK    MEASURED     SEVENTY -TWO     INCHES     IN 

GIRTH  BACK  OF  THE  FORE-LEGS "  51 

BUFFALO  SKULLS "  53 

CUNINGHAME  IN  MIDDAY  COSTUME  CARING  FOR  TROPHIES  "  55 

IMPALA  SHOT  BY  PIRIE "  56 

BUFFALO "  57 

THE  ELAND  I  SHOT "  59 

ELAND,  ONE  YEAR  OLD,  IN  CAPTIVITY "  59 

ZEBRA "  62 

WART  HOG "  62 

THE  LION  FELL  AND  NEVER  MOVED "  65 

NINE   FEET  Six  AND   NINE   FEET  NINE   INCHES,  RE- 
SPECTIVELY       "  67 

READY  FOR  THE  AFTERNOON  QUEST "  73 

TYPICAL    INDIAN    STORE    AND    DWELLING  WHICH    DOT 
THE  COUNTRY  AND  AFFORD  THE   NATIVES   PLACES 

TO  TRADE  AND  BARTER "  82 

OUR  "SAFARI"  CELEBRATING  PIRIE'S  FIRST  BUFFALO   .  "  85 

RAPID  TRANSIT  IN  BRITISH  EAST  AFRICA "  86 

INDIAN  BAZAAR,  NAIROBI "  87 

STREET  IN  NAIROBI "  88 

"DRESSED  TO  KILL" "  92 

ONE  NIGHT  IN  A  "BoMA."     H.  LLOYD  FOLSOM   ...  "  94 
LYMAN  N.  HINE,  IN  THE  GAME,  WITH  A  GOOD  PAIR  TO 

DRAW  TO "  97 

JOHN  T.  TERRY,  JR.,  AND  His  FIRST  LION "  97 

"BOMA"  AND  ZEBRA-KILL,   FROM  WHICH   EIGHT  LIONS 

WERE  KILLED "  99 

THE  LODESTONE "  109 


THE  STORY  OF  AN  OUTING 


THE  STORY  OF 

AN    OUTING 


T 


THE    CALL   OF   THE    WILD 


HE  writer  was  born  at  Colton 


enjoyed  his  youth  ancKesfrty  manhoody  Colton  is 
situated  in  theToothills  of  th£  AdiiundacEsTon  the  banks 
of  the  beautiful  Raquette  River,  by  far  the  largest  in  the 
state  save  only  the  Hudson,  and  which  carries  to  the 
sea  the  waters  of  Tupper,  Raquette,  and  Long  lakes,  and 
outlets  a  large  portion  of  the  waters  of  the  Adirondacks. 
In  this  village  in  the  short  distance  of  a  quarter-mile 
the  river  falls  ninety-two  feet,  in  a  succession  of  cascades 

i 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

and  roaring  chutes,  producing  a  scenic  effect  of  wonder- 
ful beauty,  impressive  power,  and  grandeur.  The  power 
is  now  being  converted  into  electricity  and  wired  to  dis- 
tant points  to  carry  the  burdens  and  perform  the  labors  of 
many  communities  in  the  onrush  of  our  intense  civilization. 
,  Skating  and  swimming,  boating  and  sledding,  became 
a  second  nature  to  me;  fishing,  rendered  captivating 
by  the  abundant  supply  in  various  lakes  and  streams; 
shooting,  inspired  by  the  manifold  bird  life,  aquatic  and 
land-lived,  local  and  migratory,  as  well  as  mammals, 
best  represented  by  deer  and  occasional  moose,  and 
carnivora,  including  the  lynx,  wolf,  bear,  and  cougar, 
naturally  inclined  every  boy  to  become  a  disciple  of 
Izaak  Walton  and  Daniel  Boone.  Masculine  ambition 
found  expression  in  these  channels,  and  prowess  with  rod 
and  gun  was  a  generally  coveted  attainment. 

At  the  age  of  seven  I  was  the  proud  owner  of  a  three- 
and-one-half-pound  muzzle-loading  shot-gun,  and  chip- 
munk and  red  squirrel  filled  the  measure  of  my  ambition. 
However,  I  soon  coveted  bigger  game — black  and  gray 
squirrel,  grouse,  and  pigeon.  Then  it  was  my  happy 
fortune  to  possess  a  rifle,  with  its  wider  range  and 
greater  effectiveness.  The  lowly  chipmunk  was  re- 
garded with  scorn,  and  deer  and  dangerous  animals 
thenceforth  furnished  the  imagery  of  my  dreams,  and 
they  alone  could  satisfy  my  "big-game"  aspirations. 
My  big  game  was  ever  difficult,  was  just  beyond  the  sky- 
line, and  changed  in  character,  keeping  step  with  growing 
age,  increasing  strength,  and  more  efficient  firearms. 

The  same  evolution  characterizes  life.  "Man  never 
is,  but  ever  to  be  blessed."  The  criterion  of  success,  the 
measure  of  our  ambitions,  changes  with  every  advance- 

2 


THE    CALL    OF    THE    WILD 

ment;  each  succeeding  height  scaled  broadens  the  hori- 
zon and  brings  within  the  range  of  vision  greater  possi- 
bilities and  the  unattainable  of  yesterday  becomes  the 
indispensable  of  to-morrow. 

In  1872  I  crossed  the  Great  Plains,  plains  which 
my  school-boy  geography  characterized  as^TThe  Great 
American  Desert,"  but  which  has  since  grown  into 
important  sovereign  states,  teeming  with  population 
and  industry.  My  crossing  was  not  like  the  "  '49-ers," 
beset  with  many  hardships  and  exposed  to  danger  from 
hostile  Indians,  but  whose  motto,  "Pike's  Peak  or  bust," 
carried  them  safely  through.  I  was  made  most  comfort- 
able in  a  Pullman  car  on  the  Union  Pacific  Railway.  I 
occupied  a  compartment  adjoining  one  occupied  by 
George  Francis  Train.  We  saw  from  the  train  gray 
wolf,  deer,  antelope,  elk,  and  many  herds  of  buffalo, 
prairie-dogs,  and  jack-rabbits  galore. 

One  thing  that  interested  me  greatly  was  a  party  of 
New  York  sportsmen  who  were  going  on  a  buffalo  hunt 
with  Colonel  Cody  as  guide,  known  to  the  world  now  as 
Buffalo  Bill.  They  met  Colonel  Cody  at  Lone  Tree 
Station,  left  the  train  there  and  started  upon  their  hunt, 
the  object  of  my  keenest  envy  and  admiration. 

The  time  I  spent  in  this  far  region  and  at  that  time       / 
almost  untenanted  range  of  mountain  and  plain  brought 
me  a  fair  measure  of  success  as  a  sportsman,  and  intensi- 
fied my  love  for  plain  and  mountain,  forest  and  stream. 

"I   learned   to   'know  the  world's  white   roof-tree/    and   to- 

'know  the  windy  rift, 

Where  the  baffling  mountain  eddies  chop   and  change/ 
And   to    'know   the   long   day's   patience,    belly   down,    on 

frozen  drift, 

While  the  head  of  heads  is  feeding  out  of  range."3 

3 


THE    STORY   OF    AN    OUTING 

The  rugged  grandeur  of  the  mountains  inspired  me 
with  reverential  awe;  their  broad  expanse  and  myriad 
peaks,  their  valleys  and  their  canons  were  a  revelation. 
I  shall  never  forget  an  experience  on  the  top  of  Pike's 
Peak:  surrounded  by  a  brilliant  sunlit  atmosphere,  I 
saw  below  me  a  raging  thunder-storm,  with  billowing, 
seething  masses  of  clouds  which  shut  from  view  all  the 
world  below;  the  play  of  lightning  and  the  reveberating 
thunder  suggested  Dante's  "Inferno"  and  aroused  a  sense 
that  the  dome  of  the  mountain  where  I  stood,  an  island 
in  this  mass  of  warring  elements,  was  about  to  be 
engulfed  and  my  day  of  reckoning  was  at  hand.  It  was 
strangely,  weirdly  beautiful,  and  gave  me  a  dread  realiza- 
tion of  the  power  of  the  elements  and  the  impotence 
of  man. 

In  summer  garb,  the  dark  shades  of  the  evergreen 
forests,  freshened  and  enlivened  by  the  lighter  shades 
of  deciduous  trees  and  grasses,  the  rich  and  varying 
color  of  the  advancing  season,  with  the  orange  of  the 
aspens  and  reds  of  the  oaks  and  shrubs,  ranging  from 
scarlet  to  magenta,  all  tempered  and  dignified  by  the 
granite  gray  of  boulder  and  cliff — in  all  these  moods  the 
mountains  are  impressively  beautiful;  but  one  never 
gets  the  "spirit  of  the  mountains"  until  they  are  seen 
in  winter  garb,  fast  in  the  embrace  of  ice  and  snow,  with 
atmosphere  crystal  clear,  with  mantle  of  spotless  white: 

"Billows  that  never  break, 

Great  waves  that  never  roar, 
Firm  strands  that  never  shake — 
Motionless  sea  and  shore. 

"  Whitecaps  of  summer  snow, 
Hissing  not  in  the  breeze; 

4 


THE    CALL    OF   THE    WILD 

Cloud  ships  that  come   and  go, 
Wraithlike,  o'er  silent  seas. 

"  Ocean  of  crag  and   peak, 

When  ends  thy  mystery? 
When  shall  thy  breakers  speak, 
Startling  eternity?" 

Withjihe  passing  years  the  fascinating  wild  life  which 
West  at  that  periodbegat  a  longing  to 


see  the  fauna  of  another  great  continent  in  a  similar 
state  of  nature. 

The  Red  Gods  had  for  years  been  calling  me  to  a 
" trusty,  nimble  tracker  that  I  know"  on  the  great 
plateaus  of  Africa,  where  the  herds  of  bovidae,  cervidae, 
and  various  carnivora  are  little  disturbed  by  the  native 
negroes  and  the  very  few  white  men^who  have  made  a 
lodgment  at  comparatively  few  points  of  vantage. 

No^other  continent  offers  as  great  jtjiumber  of  game 
animals,  or  such  differentiation  in  species,  or  such 
splendid  individual  specimens  as  Africa;  the  range  in 
mammals  is  from  dik-dik  to  elephant;  in  carnivora,  from 
lion  to  jackal.  Here_the  panorama  of  wild  life  possesses 
greatest  variety  and  greatest  fascination,  and  offers  most 
to  the  student  of  nature,  as  well  as  the  sportsman. 
Every  sportsman  must  be  a  student  of  nature  in  a  de- 
gree in  order  to  succeed,  and  when  he  is  so  in  the  higher, 
better  sense  he  possesses  qualities  of  sterling  manhood. 

Every  wholesome,  well-equipped  man  possesses  an  innate 
desire  to  match  his  strength  against  the  forces  of  nature. 

"  Do  you  fear  the  force  of  the  wind, 

The  slash  of  the  rain? 
Go  face  them  and  fight  them, 
Be  savage  again; 

5 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

Go  hungry  and  cold  like  the  wolf, 

Go  wade   like   the   crane, 
The   palms  of  your  hands  will   thicken, 

The  skin  of  your  forehead   tan, 
You'll   be   ragged   and   swarthy  and   weary, 

But  you'll  walk  like  a  man." 

— HAMLIN  GARLAND. 

or  manly  boy  seeks  sport  seasoned  with 
,  whether  of  wave  or  swirfirrg-rapkls, 
towering  mount  or  treacherous  drift,  terrific  antler  or 
crushing  fang  —  the  desire  is  irresistible  to  try  one's 
strength,  or  rather  one's  skill  and  power  of  endurance, 
against  the  various  defenses  of  dangerous  animals, 
oppose  one's  knowledge  of  their  habits  against  their 
cunning,  practise  the  "long  day's  patience,"  long  con- 
tinued, until  the  supreme  moment,  when  eye  and  gun 
and  game  in  straight  alignment  render  possible  the 
transfer  of  spotted  hide  or  antlered  front  to  the  walls  of 
your  city  home. 

And  the  White  Gods,  too,  are  calling  and  opening 
the  eyes  of  mankind  to  the  wonders  and  beauties  of  the 
great  open  world.  From  pole  to  tropic,  from  equator  to 
pole,  landscape,  flora,  and  fauna  are  pinioned  by  the 
lens  and  reproduced  with  absolute  accuracy  in  all 
respects  save  color,  and  we  are  on  the  verge  of  mastering 
color.  These  pictures  are  spread  upon  the  pages  of 
current  publications  or  thrown  upon  screens  for  the 
education  and  entertainment  of  all.  The  camera  in- 
vades the  haunts  of  his  royal  highness,  "the  king  of 
beasts,"  the  great  "tuskers,"  and  from  mastodon  to  mar- 
mot the  doings  of  wild  life  are  reproduced.  Comfort- 
ably seated  in  a  theater  in  New  York  one  may  see  the 

6 


THE    CALL    OF    THE    WILD 

lassoing  of  a  lion  in  Africa,  the  lassoing  of  lion  or  cou- 
gar in  the  Rockies.  You  may  also  see  the  lassoing  and 
hoisting  on  board  vessel  of  two  polar  bears  and  six 
musk-oxen,  within  the  arctic  circle,  at  the  inception  of 
their  journey  to  the  Bronx  Zoo,  where  they  now  form 
part  of  our  zoological  exhibit. 

All  hail  photography  in  its  wonderful  service  to  man- 
kind! Build  shrines  to  the  White  Gods  of  the  Lens  and 
the  Brush,  whose  devotees  are  making  us  acquainted  with 
all  parts  of  this  little  world  of  ours  and  its  denizens,  both 
brute  and  human.  They  are  also  reaching  out  into 
infinite  space,  and  daily  increasing  our  knowledge  of  the 
universe,  of  which  we  form  so  small  a  part. 

All  hail  every  wholesome  influence  that  lures  from  the 
fetid  artificiality  of  modern  life  to  the  pure  air,  the  bright 
sunshine,  the  detonating  thunder,  the  storm  with  its 
fury  of  swish  and  drift,  to  glorious  contact  with  the 
forces  of  nature,  be  they  of  gentler  or  sterner  mood, 
where  we  may  recreate  and  exclaim  with  the  greatest 
of  poets: 

"And   this  our  life  exempt  from  public  haunt, 
Finds  tongues  in  trees,  books  in  running  brooks, 
Sermons  in  stones,  and  good  in  everything/' 

The  outdoor  life  sweetens  all  existence;  it  cultivates 
the  pure  and  wholesome  in  one's  life  and  aspirations; 
it  lures  from  man-made  attractions,  that  pander  to 
sensation,  to  God-made  attractions,  that  sustain  the 
source  of  being;  in  advancing  years  it  enables  one  to 
exclaim: 

"Though   I  look  old,  yet  am  I  strong  and  lusty; 
For  in  my  youth  I  never  did  apply 

•       7 


THE    STORY   OF    AN    OUTING 

Hot  and  rebellious  liquors  in  my  blood, 
Nor  did  not  with  unbashful  forehead 
Woo  the  means  of  weakness  and  debility." 

Acquire  a  love  for  the  open,  sacrifice  to  the  Red  Gods, 
build  shrines  to  the  White  Gods,  foster  the  habit  of 
vacations  that  recreate  and  give  strength,  rather  than 
those  that  enervate  and  impair  the  strength  you  have. 


II 

THE    START 

HAVING  sacrificed  to  the  Red  Gods  and  the  White 
Gods,  and  the  augury  proving  favorable,  we  sailed 
on  the  Mauritania,  January  22,  1913,  armed  with  guns, 
cameras,  and  great  expectations.  Samuel  C.  Pirie,  the 
merchant  prince  and  prince  of  good  fellows,  delightful 
companion,  prime  sportsman;  Lyman  N.  Hine,  H.  Lloyd 
Folsom,  and  John  T.  Terry,  Jr.,  classmates  in  Yale,  just 
in  the  twilight  zone  that  separates  school  from  harder 
lessons  found  in  the  curriculum  of  real  life,  abounding 
in  health,  strength,  and  enthusiasm — three  splendid 
specimens  of  young  American  manhood — these  made  up 
our  party  of  five. 

We  reached  London  January  28th,  put  our  impedi- 
menta on  the  German  steamer  Prinzes  sin  at  Southamp- 
ton, February  1st,  and  caught  up  with  the  steamer 
February  I3th,  at  Naples,  having  had  nine  days  for 
Paris,  Monte  Carlo,  and  Rome.  A  sixteen  days'  sail  on 
this  sixty-four-hundred-ton  vessel,  that  responded  to  the 
roll  of  the  billows  in  a  way  that  an  Atlantic  liner  would 
scorn  to  do,  brought  us  to  Mombasa.  Port  Said,  Suez, 
and  Aden  were  the  only  intermediate  stops  after  leaving 
Naples.  The  first  two  are  interesting  as  marking  the 
termini  of  that  great  commercial  enterprise,  the  Suez 

9 


THE    STORY   OF    AN    OUTING 

Canal,  conceived  by  and  built  under  the  supervision  of 
De  Lesseps,  the  eminent  French  engineer.  This  canal, 
eighty-seven  miles  in  length,  connects  the  Red  Sea  with 
the  Mediterranean  and,  thus  separating  two  conti- 
nents, makes  the  circumnavigation  of  Africa  possible.  It 
brought  the  remoter  parts  of  the  world  closer  in  touch 
and  has  proved  a  boon  alike  to  trade  and  travel.  Aden, 
with  fifty-five  thousand  inhabitants,  including  the  port 
and  town,  occupies  a  volcanic  peninsula  between  the 
Gulf  of  Aden  and  the  Indian  Ocean.  This  peninsula,  to- 
gether with  a  coast  strip  on  the  mainland  (eighty  thousand 
square  miles,  I  believe),  belongs  to  Great  Britain,  and 
from  the  port  and  harbor  of  Aden,  as  a  strategic  center, 
she  manages  the  recalcitrant  Somalis  of  British  Somali- 
land.  Her  long  and  arduous  campaign  against  the  Mad 
Mullah  and  his  ilk  was  costly,  as  war  ever  is,  and  largely 
barren  of  good  results,  as  war  usually  is.  Aden  is  a 
coaling  and  watering  place  for  vessels  in  their  long  sail 
to  and  from  Europe  and  Asiatic  and  African  points. 
The  coal  is  of  course  brought  there,  and  the  water  is  dis- 
tilled from  the  sea — retail  price,  seventy-eight  cents  per 
one  hundred  gallons. 

The  five  days'  sail  from  Port  Said  to  Aden  is  bordered 
by  desert  lands  on  both  shores.  Aden  possesses  one 
curiosity  in  the  form  of  water-tanks  hewn  in  the  rock 
and  supplemented  with  masonry.  They  begin  in  a 
notch  in  the  hills  and  extend  in  a  series  down  to  the  level, 
each  lower  one  supposed  to  catch  the  overflow  from  those 
above.  The  storage  capacity  of  these  tanks  is  very 
great;  but  who  built  them  and  why  they  were  built  are 
questions  no  one  can  answer. 

Aden  and  its  surroundings  are  absolutely  barren  of 

10 


LOWER   WATER-TANK   AT     ADEN 


ONE    OF   THE    UPPER    WATER-TANKS 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

vegetable  product.  It  has  and  can  have  no  population 
except  as  an  incident  to  the  traffic  that  calls  as  it  passes 
by.  Seemingly  this  storage  of  water  must  have  been 
planned  to  serve  passing  commerce.  How  were  these 
tanks  to  be  tilled?  It  never  rains — that  is,  hardly  ever. 
It  rained  the  day  I  was  there,  but  only  enough  to  make 
surface  mud.  Since  the  discovery  of  these  tanks,  by 
excavation,  they  have  been  kept  as  a  curiosity,  and  there 
has  not,  in  this  great  number  of  years,  been  sufficient 
rainfall  to  fill  or  perceptibly  affect  any  of  them.  Their 
construction  cost  long  years  of  labor  and  much  capital. 
By  whom  were  they  built,  and  when,  and  why?  The 
population  of  Aden  is  Somali  and  Arabic,  and  possesses 
all  the  unwholesome  attributes  of  the  East.  The  beg- 
gars had  one  plaint,  whether  child  or  octogenarian,  "No 
f adder,  no  mudder,  no  sister,  no  brudder,  nothing  eat," 
and  then  (with  one  index  ringer  stuck  into  the  mouth, 
and  rubbing  their  bare  belly  with  the  flat  of  the  other 
hand^  "back  sheesh." 

South  of  British  Somaliland  for  many  hundreds  of 
miles  along  the  coast  extends  Italian  Somaliland.  This 
includes  Cape  Guardafui  Guard  the  Faith),  the  eastern- 
most point  of  Africa,  where  vessels  sharply  round  the 
cape  and  pass  between  it  and  outlying  islands,  a  channel 
about  sixteen  miles  wide.  There  is  not  a  lighthouse  on 
the  cape,  nor  on  anv  of  the  islands,  nor  anywhere  along 
the  Italian  coast.  The  reason  is  the  tendency  of  the 
Somalis  to  murder  all  lighthouse  keepers,  and  the  in- 
ability or  indisposition  of  Italy  to  afford  military  pro- 
tection. Italy's  experience  with  Menelik  when  she  in- 
vaded Somaliland  was  disastrous,  and  the  memory  of  it 
is  said  to  have  induced  a  lack  of  aggression  on  the  part  of 

I  a 


THE    START 

the  Italian  army  during  the  recent  Turko-Tunisian  cam- 
paign. The-  condition  in  which  Menelik  paroled  five 
hundred  Italian  prisoners  is  something  to  be  remembered 
in  more  ways  than  one. 

At  all  events,  the  eastern  coast  of  Africa,  for  a  very 
long  distance,  including  Cape  Guardafui,  is  navigated 


HOTEL   AT   BOMBASA   AND   BAOBAB-TREE 

This  tree  is  very  numerous  along  the  coast,  and  it  is  a  great  hollow  shell, 
supporting  itself  in  upright  position  like  a  tub,  with  occasional  small  roots 
around  the  periphery,  which  supply  nourishment.  The  foliage  is  slight; 
the  flowers  are  beautiful 

without  the  protection  of  lights  and  buoys  so  essential 
to  the  preservation  of  life  and  property.  Wrecks  along 
this  coast  are  not  infrequent. 

Mombasa  is  an  island  with  sixty  thousand  popula- 
tion, only  a  few  hundred  of  which  are  white.  The  nar- 
row arm  of  the  sea  which  makes  it  an  island  only  admits 
vessels  of  the  lighter  draught  in  front  of  Mombasa,  and 
hence  Kilindini,  meaning  "deep  water,"  at  the  other  end 
of  the  island,  three  miles  distant,  has  become  the  prin- 

13 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

cipal  port  of  entry.  These  places  are  connected  by  a 
tramway  with  very  light  rails  or  bars  of  iron.  The  cars 
have  one  double  seat,  back  to  back,  capacity  four  per- 
sons, and  are  propelled  by  two  "niggers,"  who  run  very 
well,  easily  beating  a  horse-car  for  speed.  They  call  it  a 
gary,  and  the  word  seems  to  comprehend  the  track,  cars, 
and  motive  power.  The  hotels  here,  as  well  as  at  Nai- 
robi, belong  to  the  Uganda  Railway;  they  are  livable, 
but  are  not  managed  by  a  "Boldt"  or  supervised  by  an 
"Oscar."  They  give  you  many  courses;  eggs  cooked  in 
the  shell  are  a  safe  order,  and  pastry  should  be  classi- 
fied with  lion,  elephant,  and  buffalo  as  dangerous.  The 
sportsman  learns  with  a  shock  that  all  meat  in  tropical 
countries  is  inclined  to  be  tough;  it  goes  from  fresh 
to  tainted  without  any  intermediate  period  of  tender- 
ness. The  ice  in  British  East  Africa  is  way  upon  Mt. 
Kenia,  and  not  available  for  use.  The  most  refreshing 
drinks  are  weak  tea  made  from  boiled  water,  which  has 
been  allowed  to  cool,  and  lime  juice  and  similar  boiled 
water;  they  are  also  the  safest  drinks. 


Ill 

THE    PANORAMA 

WE  left  Mombasa  at  noon,  and  until  dark  ran 
through  a  very  rich  country,  abounding  in  luxuri- 
ant tropical  vegetation,  with  comparatively  little  culti- 
vation in  evidence.  The  frequent  stops  disclosed  a 
numerous  native  population,  to  whom  the  passing  train 
was  a  passing  event.  At  stations  the  fruit-stands  offered 
watermelon,  cocoanuts,  pineapple,  papaw,  mangoes,  ba- 
nanas, all  growing  in  sight  of  the  train,  all  the  tropical 
fruits  with  which  we  were  familiar,  and  many  entirely 
new  to  us  and  with  which  we  did  not  experiment. 

The  Uganda  Railway  runs  triweekly  trains  from 
Mombasa  to  Victoria  Nyanza  (triweekly  has  been  thus 
jocosely  defined,  "They  run  a  train  through  one  week 
and  try  to  get  back  the  next").  Nairobi  is  about  half- 
way, three  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles,  and  enjoys 
fifty-four  hundred  feet  of  altitude.  In  their  sleepers 
they  furnish  bare  bunks,  and  you  are  expected  to  provide 
towel,  soap,  and  bedding,  and  be  your  own  porter.  It  is 
a  narrow-gage  road,  and  has  ail  the  rigidity  that  goes 
with  steel  ties.  It  was  not  necessary  to  call  us  at  day- 
break— we  had  already  quit  our  "downy  couch"  and 
were  all  agog  for  a  first  view  of  the  wild  life.  We  were 
in  the  game  reservation,  and  for  seven  hours  the  fauna 

15 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 


RAILWAY    STATION    AND    FRUIT-STAND 

of  eastern  Central  Africa  was  unfolded  to  our  admiring 
gaze  in  a  wonderful,  natural  panorama;  the  car-window 
gave  us  visage,  and  Dame  Nature,  with  wonderful  pro- 
fusion, threw  her  fauna  upon  the  screen.  Congoni,  or 
hartebeests,  were  the  most  numerous  and  are  the  swiftest 
buck  in  Africa,  with  inconsequential  antlers,  long  and 
dolorous-looking  heads,  high  on  the  withers  and  sloping 
aft,  awkward,  ungainly,  loose-jointed,  but,  withal,  keen- 
eyed  and  alert,  topping  ant-hills  or  other  eminences  as 
self-appointed  sentinels  of  the  wild  life.1 

I  have  frequently  seen  a  single  congoni  with  a  bunch 

1  All  are  familiar  with  elephant,  lion,  rhinoceros,  zebra,  and  hip- 
popotamus, but  very  few  are  familiar  with  the  appearance  of  the 
Cape  buffalo,  eland,  oryx,  topi,  kudu,  waterbuck,  bushbuck,  impala, 
congoni,  Grant's  gazelle,  Thomson's  gazelle,  wildebeest,  etc.  For  the 

16 


THE    PANORAMA 

of  impala  or  a  band  of  zebras.  His  lynx-eyed  guardian- 
ship has  brought  to  naught  many  a  promising  stalk  and 
been  the  innocent  cause  of  highly  improper  remarks. 
Your  license  permits  you  to  shoot  twenty,  which  speaks 
well  for  their  reproductive  qualities  and  shows  the  general 
esteem  in  which  they  are  held.  In  color  they  are  reddish 


NATIVE  SOLDIER,  SHOWING  BARE  FEET,  BLUE  PUTTEES,  TRUNKS, 
SASH,  SHIRT,  AND  FEZ 

or  light  brown,  with  the  usual  white  behind,  which 
characterizes  the  antelope  and  gazelle  family. 

benefit  of  future  sportsmen  I  have  therefore  sprinkled  through  this 
volume  cuts  of  the  principal  bovidae  and  cervidae  obtainable  in  the 
country  round  about  Mt.  Kenia,  Tana  Valley,  and  Kapiti  Plains — by 
no  means  all,  but  most  of  them.  When  better  photos  than  those 
taken  by  myself  were  available,  I  have  used  them;  some  of  the  best 
are  by  Binks,  a  first-class  photographer  at  Nairobi. 

17 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 


A    SINGLE    CONGONI 


Thomson's  gazelle  (commonly  called  Tommies)  is 
very  small,  weighing,  I  should  guess,  forty  to  fifty 
pounds.  He  has  the  usual  deer  color,  accentuated  by  a 
bright  black  band  about  four  inches  wide  extending 
from  hip  to  shoulder  just  above  the  belly.  They  are 
very  numerous,  beautiful,  and  possessed  of  the  poetic 
grace  which  has  ever  been  associated  with  the  gazelle; 
their  antlers  are  small  but  graceful. 

The  Grant's  gazelles  were  much  in  evidence.  They 
have  color  like  that  of  the  Virginia  deer  when  in  the  red 
coat,  and  are  only  a  shade  smaller.  The  bucks  have 
some  black  marks,  and  the  does  have  black  bands  like 
the  Tommies.  The  color  contrasts  are  remarkable, 
their  reddish  backs,  black-band  sides,  white  bellies,  and 

18 


THOMSON  S    GAZELLE 


GRANT  S    GAZELLE 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

white  buttocks  rendering  them  conspicuous  and  most 

attractive;   their  antlers  are  a  little  coarse,  but  striking. 

The  impala  were  numerous;    they  are  colored  very 

much  like  the  Virginia  deer  in  the  red  coat;   a  band  sug- 


AN   IMPALA 

gests  a  herd  of  deer  at  once.  The  males  have  beautiful 
and  gracefully  curved  corrugated  horns,  large  in  pro- 
portion to  their  size;  in  size  they  are  a  shade  smaller 
than  the  Adirondack  deer. 

The   wildebeest,    also    called    brindle-gnu    or   horned 
horse,  were  plentiful.     They  have  a  grizzled  gray  color, 

20 


THE    PANORAMA 

suggesting  squirrel  gray,  though  more  inclined  to  brown. 
They  go  in  bands,  but  the  old  bulls  are  usually  found 
alone.  They  attract  attention  by  their  tail-switching 
and  cavorting,  half  fearful,  half  defiant,  as  they  with- 
draw from  the  approaching  train.  From  the  irrespon- 
sible "they  say"  we  gathered  that  these  animals  are 
the  horned  horse  mentioned  in  the  Bible — the  unicorn. 
The  unicorn,  however,  is,  I  believ.e,  a  well-authenticated 
myth,  while  these  animals  are  very  real  indeed. 


THE    WILDEBEEST 


We  saw  giraffe,  one  on  the  crest  of  a  ridge,  gazing  at 
the  train,  towered,  steepled  up  into  the  sky,  a  splendid 
pose  for  a  photo,  but  before  camera  could  be  produced 
the  onrushing  train  had  kaleidoscoped  an  entirely  differ- 
ent view.  From  the  opposite  window  we  saw  three  in 


21 


ZEBRA 


TOTO  (BABY  RHINO)  AND  MAJOR  KIRKWOOD 


THE    PANORAMA 

curious  pose,  about  three  hundred  yards  distant.  Their 
curiosity  satisfied,  or  fear  aroused,  they  shambled  off 
at  a  most  ungainly  gait,  from  the  fact  that  nature  has 
slipped  their  gambrel  joints  down  almost  to  their 
ankles.  Perfectly  harmless  creatures,  their  only  sin 
comes  of  a  long  neck  instead  of  a  bad  disposition,  for 
their  necks  knock  down  the  low-hung  telegraph  wires, 
and  this  has  given  them  a  bad  reputation. 

Zebras,  with  their  striking  black  and  white,  were  every- 
where. Many  bands  of  ostriches  there  were,  in  number 
ranging  from  three  to  eleven,  and  when  too  near  the  train, 
with  perfect  composure  and  with  not  the  slightest  show  of 
confusion  and  between  mouthfuls,  for  their  feeding  was 
scarcely  interrupted,  they  rapidly  receded  in  the  distance. 

The  restless,  ever -active  secretary-bird,  seemingly 
about  one-third  the  size  of  the  ostrich,  was  several  times 
seen,  usually  in  pairs,  and  I  did  not  see  more  than  three 
at  any  one  time. 

The  pachydermatous  rhinoceros,  stolid  and  stupid,  was 
also  a  contributor.  We  saw  four  cheetahs,  or  hunting- 
leopards. 

This  panoramic  menagerie  of  nature,  disclosing  in  large 
degree  the  fauna  of  British  East  Africa,  fed  the  hungry 
eyes  of  the  sportsman  and  tourist  alike;  a  great  exhibi- 
tion of  ^wffcT  life  ni  the  wilds  of  a  great  continent,  for, 
however^densely  populated  with  negroes  fanrl  it  is  wry 
dense  in  places) ,  *hfy  ar^  Krt\r  rpfpnypH  from  or  aH  vanrpd 
beyond  the  other  animal  life. 

1  have  not  essayed  to  mention  every  different  species 
which  we  saw.  The  one  grandly  impressive  fact  was 
the  great  number  of  animals,  literally  thousands  upon 
thousands. 


IV 

THE    COUNTRY 

AJL  British  East  Africa  is  volcanic.  Mt.  Kenia  cen- 
turies ago  emptied  the  bowels  of  the  earth  over  the 
same,  down  even  to  within  thirty  miles  of  the  coast. 
Igneous  rock  shows  on  the  surface  over  much  of  its  area, 
and  where  soil  has  accumulated  digging  down  a  few  feet 
will  reveal  the  once  molten  rock,  in  size  running  from 
a  kernel  of  rice  to  two  or  three  tons. 

At  the  time  of  this  great  overflow,  or,  better  expressed, 
when  so  much  of  the  earth's  interior  was  blown  into  the 
air,  to  fall  in  showers  all  over  what  is  now  British  East 
Africa,  Mt.  Kenia  blew  out  its  whole  mountain-side; 
nevertheless,  it  still  towers  over  seventeen  thousand  feet 
in  height  and  is  a  portentous  and  beautiful  landmark  to 
nearly  all  British  East  Africa. 

Kilimanjaro,  nineteen  thousand  eight  hundred  feet  in 
the  air,  just  beyond  the  German  border,  presents  a  mass- 
ive dome,  ever  covered  with  snow,  and,  kindled  into 
brilliancy  by  the  rays  of  the  rising  or  setting  sun,  it 
gave  us  many  imposing  and  glorious  views,  gorgeous  in 
their  color  effects.  Along  the  coast  the  dense  tropical 
vegetation  constitutes  a  jungle,  but  comparatively  few 
miles  inland  this  disappears  and  open  country  ensues. 
The  slopes  of  Kenia  and  other  mountains  abound  in 


OPEN    COUNTRY 


OPEN    COUNTRY  TAKEN   FROM  THE   SAME   POINT.  LOOKING   IN  OPPOSITE 

DIRECTIONS,     AND    COVERING    A    RANGE    OF    SEVEN 

OR     EIGHT    MILES 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

dense  forests,  especially  the  bamboo  belt.  Trees  mark 
the  watercourses,  and  acacia  predominates,  as  does  the 
cottonwood  along  the  streams  on  our  Western  plains. 

Thorn  scrub  obtains  in  localities,  but  generally  the 
trees,  where  they  exist,  are 'the  size  and  shape  of  our 
fruit-trees,  and  about  as  close  together.  Standing  on  an 
eminence  and  viewing  a  wide  sweep  of  country,  it  is 
difficult  to  believe  that  all  before  you  is  not  the  well- 
kept  product  of  superior  husbandry.  The  spear-grass, 
which  is  everywhere,  grows  in  height  from  your  middle 
thigh  to  shoulder,  depending  upon  richness  of  soil  and 
degree  of  moisture,  and  waving  in  the  wind  looks  like 
cultivated  fields  of  grass  or  grain. 

This  country  has  two  rainy  seasons;  the  small  rains 
come  in  October  and  November,  and  the  big  rains  in 
March,  April,  and  May,  and  they  are  torrential  at 
times.  The  vegetable  growth  is  so  luxuriant  and  so 
dense  at  the  bottom,  especially  the  grasses,  that  it  pro- 
tects the  earth  largely  from  the  evaporation  which  the 
intense  heat  of  the  sun  might  otherwise  produce. 

The  richest  country  is  generally  occupied  by  natives, 
and  the  government  scrupulously  protects  them  in  their 
ownership  and  control.  Of  course,  game  will  avoid 
populous  places  and  is  found  largely  upon  the  untillable 
plains,  where  grazing  is  of  the  best  and  protection  may 
be  had.  Game  in  Africa,  as  did  gamejjpon  our  Western 
plains,  seeks  protection  by  rusrnng  into  the  open,  where 
their  eyes  can  see  danger  and  their  Meet  limbs  keep  them 
out  of  range.  They  do  not  need  scientific  instruments 
to  determine  the  range  of  modern  guns — they  simply 
know.  The  average  shot  in  British  East  Africa  is  two 
hundred  yards  or  over,  and  on  Kapiti  Plains,  about  thirty 

26 


SHOWING   THE    OPEN   CHARACTER   OF   WOODED   HILLS 


TYPICAL    NEGRO    HUTS    MADE    OF    UPRIGHT    STICKS    PLASTERED    WITH 
MUD   AND   THATCHED    WITH   REEDS 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

miles  from  Nairobi,  where  week-enders  keep  the  game 
well  exercised,  the  average  shot  is  over  three  hundred 
yards.  The  country  is  diversified  with  plain  and 
undulation,  rising  to  the  dignity  of  mountains,  every- 
where covered  with  luxuriant  Vegetation,  well  kempt,  well 
groomed  in  appearance,  with  new  and  strange  flora, 
with  flowering  shrubs  and  trees  and  all  things  beautiful, 
the  farthest  remove  possible  from  the  jungle  that  my 
imagination  had  always  pictured.  Of  course,  there  is 
thick  cover  along  streams  and  swamps  where  lion,  ele- 
phant, and  buffalo  can  seek  safety  if  they  like.  The 
streams  and  swamps  furnish  such  cover,  but  the  lion 
likes  the  open,  and  the  leopard,  they  say,  will  lie  in  the 
grass  and  let  you  pass  within  a  few  feet  of  him  as  long 
as  he  feels  that  he  is  undiscovered. 

Decaying  vegetation  of  the  centuries  has  made  mill- 
ions of  acres  of  rich  alluvial  soil;  in  places  the  soil  is  very 
deep.  These  rich  plains  and  luxuriant  vegetation  are 
bound  some  day  to  furnish  sustenance  to  a  better  race, 
as  the  crowded  centers  of  more  civilized  nations  send 
here  their  overflow  to  wage  the  never-ending  battle  of 
the  survival  of  the  fittest. 


BUSH    BUCK 


WATER    BUCK 


INDUSTRIES    AND    NATIVES 

NAIROBI  is  the  town  par  excellence  of  British  East 
Africa;  population,  white  and  Indian,  twenty-five 
hundred;  colored,  as  many  thousand;  located  on  a 
plain  at  the  edge  of  the  game  country;  busy  and  grow- 
ing; big  with  possibility  of  agricultural  development,  with 
many  willing  to  exploit  the  same,  but  restrained  and 
embarrassed  for  the  want  of  labor.  White  men  cannot 
work  in  the  fields  unde^ran  equa.tQ_nal  sunT  anj  the 
negroes~will  not^  to  any  great  extent.  The  land  is 
owned  in  too  large  tracts,  and  small  plots  are  offered  at 
maximum  retail  prices.  Coffee  land  four  miles  from 
Nairobi  was  held  at  sixty-five  dollars  per  acre  in  a  wild 
state.  To  build  a  house  and  other  necessary  structures, 
clear  the  land  and  raise  a  "catch  crop,"  which  is  neces- 
sary to  put  the  ground  in  condition  to  receive  the  coffee 
shrubs,  and  await  the  growth  of  the  coffee  shrub,  three 
or  four  years,  until  a  crop  may  be  expected,  would  add 
greatly  to  the  cost  of  the  acreage.  This  leaves  little 
to  be  hoped  for  in  the  line  of  appreciation  in  value,  and 
militates  against  the  influx  of  small  investors,  which  are 
indispensable  to  the  development  of  a  new  country. 
A/\jf  Several  Americans  are  among  the  landed  proprietors, 
fll\  notably  W.  R.  McMillan  and  Paul  J.  Rainey,  the  sports- 

30 


FOUR    OF   THE    "FOUR    HUNDRED" 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

man,   who  has   purchased   a   large  estate   not   far  from 
Nairobi. 

Wattle  is  a  tree  that  grows  to  merchantable  size  in 
three  years,  and  the  bark  of  which  is  vastly  superior  to 
oak  or  hemlock  for  tanning  purposes.  Wattle  farms  are 
common.  There  are  many  coffee  estates,  but  sisal  farms 
seem  to  be  the  more  popular  and  the  more  numerous. 
Heniquen,  or  sisal,  is  the  plant  which  has  added  so 
greatly  to  the  wealth  of  Yucatan,  and  produces  the 
fiber  from  which  most  of  our  cordage  is  made.  The 
same  volcanic  soil  and  surface  exist  here  as  obtain  around 
Merida  in  Yucatan.  All  these  industries  depend  upon 
negro  labor  and  compete  strongly  with  recruiting  safa- 
ris for  sportsmen.  Until  recently  both  sexes  lived  in 
proximate  nudity.  Now  a  blanket  thrown  over  the 
right  shoulder  and  hanging  against  the  left  hip,  leaving 
the  left  shoulder  and  right  hip  bare,  is  a  common  dress 
for  men.  A  similar  robe  of  skin  is  the  common  dress  for 
women.  In  towns  meretricious  robes  or  gowns  of  calico 
are  worn  by  women,  and  the  men  are  taking  to  trunks — 
breeches  coming  half-way  from  hip  to  knee.  One  of  our 
porters  had  somehow  become  possessed  of  the  remnants 
of  a  heavy  overcoat,  and  he  wore  it  every  day,  notwith- 
standing the  intense  heat  and  his  heavy  load.  They 
evidently  like  clothes. 

The  vanity  of  the  human  race  is  not  a  product  of 
civilization — it  is  congenital.  Dame  Fashion  is  quite 
as  imperious  and  her  devotees  quite  as  subservient 
in  darkest  Africa  as  where  the  Aryan  race  holds 
sway. 

Clothing  in  tropical  Africa^w-ould  seem  to  he  an  ^jVer- 
thought,  coming  into  moderate  use  in  recent  times; 


MORE    OF   THE        FOUR    HUNDRED 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

in^their_^roxiniate  nudity,  decoration  and  fashion  took 
the  form  of_tatjtoging^and  physical  disfigurements 

I  present  several  photographs  sriowmg  the  extent  to 
which  the  rim  and  lobe  of  the  ear  are  stretched  and 
become  a  receptacle  for  ornaments  by  the  tribes  with 
whom  I  came  in  contact.  They  load  themselves  down 
with  coils  of  wire,  usually  steel  or  copper.  Anything  in 
the  form  of  metal  commands  their  admiration. 

Maize,  millet,  beans,  and  a  coarse  legume  are  the 
principal  native  food,  and  enough  for  their  sustenance  is 
easily  raised  and  with  little  labor.  Why  should  the 
negro  work_L  The  hut  tax  of  three  rupees  per  annum  is 
got  with  little  effort,  and  easy  indolence  marks  their 
general  life.  To  develop  wants  on  their  part,  shoes  and 
clofries7  for  instance,  tobacco  and  the  white  man's  food, 
seem  the  only  way  to  improve  the  labor  supply.  The 
Germans  in  German  East  Africa  have  grappled  the 
problem  in  true  German  fashion.  They  compel  every 
negro  to  work  for  white  men  at  least  two  months  per 
year;  each  negro  is  furnished  a  ticket,  upon  which  is 
punched  the  number  of  days  employed  by  each  em- 
ployer. Then  the  commissioner  of  labor  comes  around, 
and  every  man  who  is  short  of  the  required  two  months  is 
forced  into  a  gang  of  workmen  and  compelled  to  work 
for  the  government  three  times  the  number  of  days  he  is 
deficient.  He  may  work  for  whom  he  pleases  and  for 
as  many  different  employers  as  he  chooses,  but  he  must 
contribute  at  least  two  months'  labor  to  the  white  man's 
burden.  As  an  incentive  he  is  exempt  from  taxation  in 
case  he  performs  the  required  labor. 

Al  1  t  h  isjrrt£j£&ts 

difficulty ..and  at 


future  must  be  recruited  wi 


MILLING    INDUSTRY    IN    AFRICA 


MATERNITY 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

increasfid-expense.  The  safarijippea\s_to  the  roaming 
propensity  of  the  negro  and  his  gregarious  nature  and 
love  for  gorging  himself  upon  the  jrame  that_£alls  to  the 
s) 

"TKe" safari  is  prominent  among  the  industries  and  is  one 
of  the  principal  means  of  obtaining  revenue  from  other 
countries.  A  brief  description  of  ours  may  be  of  interest. 
It  a>nsisteji-Q£jone  hundredjmd  twenty  men,  recruited 
from  the  following  tribes,  if  tribes  is  the  proper  word 
with  which  to  characterize  the  various  natives,  who, 
under  respective  local  government  of  their  own,  occupy 
this  country:  Swahili,  Wakamba,  Kavirondo,  Unum- 
wazi,  Wa'Kikuyu,  Wa'Emba,  Baganda,  Wa'Mera,  Nan- 
di,  Masai. 

The  Swahili  occupy  the  coast  and  are  the  most  ad- 
vanced and  most  important  of  all  from  a  civilized  stand- 
point. Their  superiority  is  due  to  the  large  admixture 
of  Arabian  and  Indian  blood.  This  blood  shows  itself 
in  the  bearded  faces  of  the  men,  as  well  as  in  the  fore- 
sight and  forethought  and  business  capacity  which  they 
evidence. 

The  moderate  advance  over  their  four-footed  neigh- 
bors which  the  natives  enjoy  was  manifested  in  many 
ways.     Some  of  our  gun-bearers  would  just  as  quickly 
undertake    to   stalk   game   down-wind    as    up-wipd;    it 
never  occurred  to  them  to  determine  that  all-important 
question  before  beginning  a  stalk.     They  have  no  judg- 
]  ment  of  distance,  in  fact  there  is  nothing  in  the  regular 
^course  of  their  lives  to  educate  them  in  that  respect. 
/     An  eland  is  the  largest  of  African  cervidae,  and  fur- 
/nishes  very  choice  meat;    a  good  bull  will  weigh  one 
r   thousand  or  twelve  hundred  pounds.     When  the  throat 

36 


CELEBRATING   THE    KILLING   OF   MY   LION 


LESSER    KUDU 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

of  one  is  cut  the  blood  flow  is  enormous.  I  was  shocked 
to  see  the  porters  empty  their  canteens  of  water  and  fill 
them  with  blood,  and,  this  done,  apply  their  mouths  to 
the  orifice,  or  catch  the  blood  in  their  hands,  and  thus 
gorge  themselves.  We  took  great  pains  in  cutting  out  the 
sirloin  and  carefully  wrapping  it,  in  the  interest  of  clean- 
liness, for  our  own  table  use.  When  it  reached  camp, 
four  miles  distant,  only  one  sirloin  remained.  Investi- 
gation showed  that  the  porters  had  eaten  the  other  raw 
on  the  way  to  camp.  While  skinning,  they  would  cut 
off  hunks  of  meat,  still  almost  pulsating  with  life,  and 
bolt  them  in  true  ferce  nature?  style. 

Sufficient  unto  the  day  is  the  responsibility  thereof 
with  them.  "The  Lord  [or  Allah,  rather]  will  provide" 
is  their  faith  and  they  live  up  to  it.  He  has  not,  how- 
ever, provided  them  with  a  sense  of  honor  as  to  contract, 
property,  or  truthfulness.  They  are  very  skilful  at  de- 
ceiving. 

I  was  greatly  amused  by  one  incident.  The  day  I 
killed  two  lions  they  went  wild  in  celebrating  the  event. 
They  bore  me  around  the  camp  several  times  on  their 
shoulders  with  much  shouting  and  singing,  the  Ka- 
virondos  going  through  some  accustomed  ceremony. 
Then  they  bore  Cuninghame  around  in  similar  manner^ 
and  finally  seated  themselves  in  front  of  my  tent  in 
serial  rows,  awaiting  backsheesh,  which  I  understand 
accompanies  the  killing  of  a  lion  in  all  safaris,  since  lions 
have  become  scarce  and  difficult.  Their  enthusiasm, 
much  of  it,  was  born,  doubtless,  of  expected  backsheesh. 
They  were  lined  up  and  the  neopara  (head  man)  went 
down  the  line  with  a  bag  of  rupees,  dropping  one  in  each 
hand.  One  fellow  put  out  his  hand,  as  did  the  others, 

38 


INDUSTRIES    AND    NATIVES 

and  at  the  same  time  put  his  other  arm  around  the  man 
standing  next  to  him,  and  thus  received  two  rupees, 
one  in  each  hand.  They  were  no  sooner  received  than 
he  broke  from  the  line,  proclaimed  the  fact,  and  with  a 
rupee  in  each  hand  danced  in  front  of  my  tent  in  great 
glee.  His  adeptness  made  him  the  hero  of  the  occasion 
and  the  envy  of  his  fellows. 

Most  of  the  agricultural  work  is  done  by  women, 
and  the  price  of  a  wife  is  fifteen  sheep  or  goats,  and  the 
number  of  wives  one  may  have  is  limited  only  by  the 
number  one  is  able  to  pay  for.  The  women  have  nothing 
to  say  about  the  selection  of  their  husbands,  the  father 
or  eldest  male  relative  in  each  case  settles  that,  however 
much  they  may  have  to  say  later.  They  load  themselves 
with  copper  and  steel  wire,  beads  and  bangles,  and 
seemingly  the  supreme  test  of  beauty  is  the  extent  to 
which  the  lobe  of  the  ear  and  the  rim  of  the  ear  may  be 
punctured  and  expanded.  For  instance,  one  negro  was 
extremely  proud,  wearing^  a^small  earthen  cheese-jar 
in  his  expanded  ear-lobe. 


VI 

THE    TREK 

NAIROBI  is  the  hub  of  British  East  Africa;  here 
we  organized  our  safari,  and  here  our  party  di- 
vided, Hine,  Folsom,  and  Terry  going  south  toward 
German  East  Africa,  with  Outram  for  guide;  Pirie  and 
myself  going  to  the  Tana  Valley.  For  guides  we  had 
the  world-renowned  sportsman  and  naturalist,  R.  J. 
Cuninghame,  assisted  by  Major  J.  A.  C.  Kirkwood. 
Cuninghame  is  sui  generis  among  sportsmen — a  Cam- 
bridge man,  a  naturalist  and  acknowledged  authority, 
an  expert  in  all  the  arts  of  woodcraft  and  plainscraft,  a 
genius  in  the  preservation  of  trophies,  a  persistent,  in- 
defatigable worker,  deeply  interested  in  all  he  does  and 
keenly  solicitous  to  give  you  the  best  of  opportunities, 
possessing  a  wonderfully  pleasing  personality,  and  yet 
modest  and  unassuming  withal.  Major  Kirkwood  is  a 
cultivated  English  gentleman  who  inherited  a  large 
fortune,  which  he  exchanged  for  a  good  time;  until 
recently  a  member  of  Parliament,  an  officer  of  cavalry 
in  the  Boer  War,  most  agreeable  and  entertaining,  tall, 
strong,  resolute,  hard  as  nails,  an  eye  like  a  hawk,  a 
keen  and  skilful  sportsman.  No  one  was  ever  better 
chaperoned  in  an  African  hunt  than  Pirie  and  myself. 
We  left  New  York  January  22d,  and  reached  Nairobi 

40 


TOPI 


ORYX 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

March  2d,  eleven  days  plus  the  month  of  February; 
owing  to  the  bad  connections  on  the  eastern  end  of  the 
journey,  five  weeks  is  about  the  minimum  time  in  which 
this  journey  can  be  made.  Because  of  the  splendid 
European  and  Atlantic  connections  the  journey  from 
Nairobi  to  New  York  may  be  made  in  a  month. 

On  March  5th,  3  P.M.,  Woodrow  Wilson  in  the  chair, 
we  started  our  safari — four  horses,  four  hunters  and 
sportsmen,  eight  gun-bearers,  skinners,  cooks,  and 
porters,  one  hundred  and  twenty  in  all.  We  camped 
at  Nine  Mile  Tree  on  the  banks  of  the  Nairobi.  Next 
day  at  noon  we  reached  Ju  Ja,  the  nineteen-thousand-acre 
estate  of  W.  R.  McMillan,  where  we  spent  two  nights  and 
a  day  as  his  guests.  We  found  him,  as  all  others  do, 
a  most  kindly,  agreeable,  and  entertaining  host.  He 
has  another  near-by  estate  of  seven  thousand  acres, 
Donye  Sabok,  which,  with  Ju  Ja,  contains  nearly  all 
kinds  of  game  that  abound  in  British  East  Africa,  a 
princely  preserve,  which  no  one  is  better  able  to  appre- 
ciate or  enjoy  than  its  most  agreeable  owner.  By 
invitation  we  shot  wildebeests  next  morning.  While 
stalking  a  desirable  bull  and  skirting  close  to  the  bank  of 
the  river  in  order  to  get  within  possible  range,  for  these 
animals  are  all  that  their  name  implies — wild  beasts — we 
stumbled  upon  a  python.  He  seemed  big  enough  then, 
but  now  I  wish  he  had  been  larger.  He  was  only  nine 
feet  long,  and  evidently  not  full  grown. 

We  observed  an  interesting  sight  on  this  morning's 
hunt.  Wild  dogs  are  quite  plentiful,  and  hunt  in  packs, 
as  did  their  more  savage  forebears.  The  morning  was 
foggy,  and  hunting  was  impossible  until  the  sun  had 
melted  the  mists  away.  A  band  of  zebras  galloped  past, 

42 


THE    TREK 

pursued  by  a  pack  of  wild  dogs.  The  dogs  had  cut  one 
zebra  out  of  the  herd  and,  running  well  forward  on  both 
sides  of  him,  prevented  his  mixing  with  the  others. 
They  kept  him  constantly  worried  by  threatening  heels 
and  flank,  with  occasional  rushes,  as  if  to  grab  his  throat, 
and  when  he  lunged  at  his  tormentors  on  one  side,  the 


WILDEBEEST    SHOT   AT   JU   JA 

line  always  receded  while  the  opposite  line  closed  in. 
These  wavering  lines,  with  glistening  fang  and  hungry 
bark,  alternately  closing  in  with  threatening  rush,  he 
vainly  sought  to  escape.  If  he  charged  one  side,  it 
would  recede,  while  the  opposite  line  closed  in;  it 
simply  changed  his  course  and  separated  him  more 
widely  from  the  protection  of  the  herd.  Although  the 

43 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

mists  shrouded  the  final  scene,  unremitting,  unrelenting 
this  death  dole  continued,  until,  weakened  and  wearied, 
some  unguarded  point  was  exposed  to  ready  fangs,  then, 
every  point  assailed,  the  struggling  zebra  would  be  borne 
to  earth,  buried  in  a  mass  6f  wriggling,  hungry  dogs, 
and  they  would  be  well  on  with  their  repast  ere  the 
excruciating  pain  of  lingering  life  had  passed. 

Thus  was  the  tragedy  of  wild  life  illustrated,  thus  do 
God's  creatures  feed  one  upon  the  other — 

"Life  evermore  is  fed  by  death, 

In  earth  and  sea  and  sky, 
And   that  the  rose  may  breathe  its  breath 
Something  must  die." 

Next  day  we  trekked  to  Blue  Post,  and  the  two  follow- 
ing days  to  Fort  Hall.  Here  thirty-six_of^our  porters 
deserted,  without  cause,  without  notice,  simply  disap- 
peared. They  came  from  a  tribe  in  that  vicinity,  and 
doubtless  preferred  to  go  home.  Cuninghame  was  equal 
to  the  occasion.  He  recruited  six  men  and  left  thirty 
loads  in  custody  of  one  of  the  Indian  stores.  Next  day, 
March  nth,  we  made  Tinga  Tinga,  where  our  hunt 
began  and  where  we  hoped  for  buffalo. 

It  took  three  days  to  bring  up  our  left-back  supplies. 
We  had  no  success  with  the  buffaloes  here,  but  got  im- 
pala,  water-bucks,  and  congoni.  We  feasted  our  safari 
upon  congoni  and  zebras  here.  Congoni,  or  hartebeest, 
is  good  food  for  any  one,  and  zebras  are  always  very  fat, 
and  the  negroes  adore  fat.  From  Nairobi  to  this  point 
— six  days'  trek — there  had  been  no  shooting  save  at 
McMillan's.  It  was  through  a  densely  populated  dis- 
trict along  a  main  road,  and  one  could  not  shoot  a 
rifle  without  danger  of  taking  life.  Our  custom  was  to 

44 


THE    TREK 

arise  at  5  A.M.  and  commence  the  day's  march  at  6  A.M., 
in  order  to  avoid  traveling  in  the  hot  sun,  usually  finish- 
ing the  trek  at  12.30  to  I  P.M. 

We  had  ample  opportunity  to  become  acquainted 
with  the  geography  of  the  heavens  as  they  appear  in 
the  evening  and  early  morning.  The  heavens  south  of 
the  equator  are  perhaps  just  as  beautiful,  but  very 
different  from  what  Northern  eyes  are  accustomed  to, 
and  this  made  their  study  a  continuing  source  of  in- 
terest. Orion,  with  dagger  in  belt,  stood  guard  almost 
over  our  heads  as  we  retired  at  night,  but  most  of  our 
well-known  constellations  were  invisible.  The  Southern 
Cross  is  the  feature  of  the  Southern  Hemisphere,  and, 
though  very  beautiful,  was  somewhat  disappointing. 
Its  shape  hardly  justifies  its  name  of  cross.  It  consists 
of  four  bright  stars;  diamond-shaped,  or  kite-shaped 
would  better  characterize  them.  The  star  at  the  apex  of 
the  kite  corresponds  in  its  functions  to  our  North  Star 
and  marks  the  direction  south.  Our  North  Star  is  always 
pointed  by  two  stars  in  the  Big  Dipper;  the  star  in  the 
apex  of  the  Southern  Cross  is  always  in  direct  line  with 
and  pointed  by  two  bright  stars,  not  a  part  of  any  con- 
stellation. The  cross,  as  well  as  these  two  stars,  per- 
form a  diurnal  revolution  around  this  apex  star,  and 
whatever  its  position  the  alignment  of  these  three  stars 
is  maintained. 

It  was  quite  in  the  habit  of  showering  about  five 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  after  which  the  air  was  very 
clear  and  the  heavens  very  bright  and  beautiful.  I  never 
saw  stars,  however,  so  multitudinous,  so  clear,  so  near, 
and  so  beautiful  as  they  appeared  to  me  viewed  from 
the  Selkirk  Mountains,  near  the  borders  of  Alaska. 

45 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

The  completeness  of  our  outfit  in  all  its  appointments 
surpassed  all  my  previous  experiences.  We  reveled  in 
luxury;  we  each  had  a  wall-tent  eight  by  ten  feet,  with 
bathroom  extension  in  the  rear,  all  covered  by  a  fly 
twenty-one  by  eighteen  feet;  which  in  the  interest  of 
coolness  and  ventilation  only  came  within  one  foot  of 
the  ground  and  preserved  a  one-foot  space  between 
itself  and  the  roof  of  the  wall-tent.  By  means  of  hangers, 
one  ridge-pole  served  for  both.  One  ridge-pole  and  three 
standards  all  jointed  so  as  to  pack  conveniently  con- 
stituted all  the  woodwork.  Each  had  a  collapsible 
canvas  bed,  with  wood  and  iron  slats  that  shut  up  into 
a  package  three  and  one-half  feet  long  by  eight  or  ten 
inches  thick,  all  wrapped  in  canvas;  a  canvas  carpet  for 
covering  the  ground  of  the  inner  tent;  a  wash-stand  that 
consisted  of  two  letters  X  of  light  wooden  slats  and  two 
letters  X  of  light  iron  bands  that  shut  up  into  a  roll 
three  inches  in  diameter.  A  canvas  wash-basin,  with 
soap-pocket,  holds  these  slats  in  place  and  easily  takes 
a  gallon  of  water.  Opening  them  out  until  the  frame  is 
about  one  foot  from  the  ground,  another  canvas  tub 
holds  them  in  place  and  takes  eight  or  ten  inches  of 
water.  For  one  sitting  d  la  mandarin  this  affords  an 
excellent  bath;  netting  along  the  inner  side  of  the  wall- 
tent  affords  ample  storage  for  all  loose  articles.  The 
fly  affords  additional  protection  from  the  sun  and  tor- 
rential rains  which  sometimes  obtain,  and,  projecting 
in  front  of  the  wall,  affords  a  porch  for  dining  or  visiting; 
a  mosquito  netting  suspended  from  the  ridge  of  the 
tent  envelops,  at  night,  one  side  of  the  tent,  includ- 
ing your  bed,  and  protects,  not  only  from  mosqui- 
toes, which  are  few,  but  from  ticks,  centipedes,  and 


INTERIOR    VIEW    OF   TENT 


TENTS    SHOWING   THE    USUAL    AFRICAN    LAWN 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

other  crawling  and  flying  insectivora,  which  are  nume- 
rous. 

This  is  a  brief  enumeration  of  our  conveniences.  A 
hot  bath  follows  the  day's  work  and  puts  one  in  proper 
trim  for  dinner  and  the  hard/sound  sleep  to  follow. 

AH^jriy  valet  or  tent-boy,  also  served  Colonel  Roose- 
velt  in  that  capacity  throughout  his  African  trip.  One 
night  I  said  to  him: 

"Ali,  I  am  especially  tired  to-night,  and  I  want  you  to 
prepare  me  a  Roosevelt  drink;  I  want  just  such  a  drink 
as  Bwana  Roosevelt  was  in  the  habit  of  taking." 

He  brought  me  a  siphon  of  carbonated  water  and  a 
bottle  of  lime-juice,  and  said: 

Bwana  Roosevelt  drink  same  as  you  do." 
Did  he  not  drink  whiskey  at  all?" 

"No,  not  drink  whiskey." 

The  intense  heat  renders  the  notion  of  stimulants 
distasteful,  but  I  noticed  that  the  acclimated  Africanders 
took  their  "Sundowners"  of  Scotch  with  great  regu- 
larity, frequently  preceded  and  followed  by  like  potions. 
Sundowner  is  an  Australian  term  for  hobo,  tramp,  one 
who  turns  up  after  work  is  no  longer  possible  that  day 
and  asks  to  be  fed.  Here  they  apply  the  term  to  the 
sweet  solace  that  follows  the  day's  hard  doings. 


VII 

A    CHANGE    OF    BASE 

THE  buffalo  is  inclined  to  roam  about  and  changes 
his  base  quickly  when  disturbed.  Having  failed 
to  get  buffalo  the  first  morning  at  Tinga  Tinga,  there  was 
little  prospect  of  success  later.  We  had  brought  our 
supplies  up  from  Fort  Hall  and  decided  to  cache  thirty 
loads  here  under  charge  of  two  porters  and  an  escara. 
That  done,  we  started  with  the  rest  upon  a  two  days' 
trek  to  other  buffalo  territory. 

Hyenas  are  very  numerous.  They  are  held  in  supreme 
contempt  by  everybody.  They  are  scavengers,  are 
mangy,  dirty,  and  covered  with  sores.  They  come  into 
your  camp  and  into  your  tent  and  will  steal  anything, 
even  your  boots.  Their  howl  embraces  several  notes, 
is  plaintive  and  rather  musical.  I  heard  several  all 
about  us  and  very  near  to  the  camp,  and  the  escara  had 
hard  work  to  protect  the  provisions  we  left  behind,  and 
was  much  relieved  when  they  were  sent  for,  having  used 
all  his  ammunitiofhr-4An^  escara,  by  the  way,  is  1m  arme< 
^guard7  a  negro,  and  he  may  shoot  in  defense  of  the 
property  left  in  his  charge.  Negroes  are  not  allowed  to 
have  guns  or  use  them,  with  the  exception  of  escaras 
and  a  very  few  chiefs  who  are  granted  Licenses  bj 

vernment. 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

A  bit  of  fortuitous  luck  fell  to  my  lot  on  the  first 
day's  trek.  Major  Kirkwood,  riding  ahead,  discovered 
a  crocodile  asleep  on  a  shelf  of  the  bank  of  the  river. 
There  are  no  sloping  banks  to  the  rivers.  They  are 
either  rocky  or,  if  in  alluvial  soil,  perpendicular,  and  range 
from  four  feet  upward  in  height,  according  to  the  state 
of  the  water.  Rains  on  Mt.  Kenia  would  give  full 
banks,  and  two  or  three  days  without  rain  would  reduce 
the  water-flow  to  comparatively  small  dimensions.  A 
bit  of  the  bank  had  caved  in  and  formed  a  shelf  perhaps 
twenty  feet  in  length.  The  crocodile  was  asleep  on  this 
shelf  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  in  about  one 
foot  of  water,  enjoying  a  sun-bath.  Responding  to  the 
Major's  signal,  we  galloped  up,  leaving  the  gun-bearers  in 
the  rear.  I  u^ed_  a  saddle  scabbard,  same  as  we  do  in 
the  Hoddes,  and  had  my  .35  automatic  Remington 
always  at  hand.  To  capture  the  crock  I  realized  that 
I  must  paralyze  him.  I  was  about  six  rods  distant,  and 
from  my  shoulder  to  his  level  was  a  drop  of  eight  or  ten 
feet;  he  was  facing  me  and  I  shot  to  break  his  spine 
just  back  of  his  neck-joint,  and  succeeded.  I  then  shot 
the  remaining  four  cartridges  into  practically  the  same 
place.  His  head,  at  an  angle  of  fifteen  degrees,  was 
slowly  turning  one  way  or  another  in  evident  pain. 
I  went  down  the  river  opposite  him,  and  distant  about 
fifteen  yards,  and  shot  him  in  the  eye,  at  the  proper 
angle  to  have  the  pellet  penetrate  the  brain.  A  croco- 
dile's brain  is  simply  an  enlargement  of  the  spinal  cord, 
and  is  not  more  than  three  or  four  inches  long  and  not 
much  larger  than  your  two  fingers.  I  then  shot  him 
twice  through  the  vitals  and  awaited  results.  He  could 
use  none  of  his  legs  to  force  himself  into  the  water,  but 

So 


A   CHANGE    OF    BASE 


THE  CROCK  MEASURED  SEVENTY-TWO  INCHES  IN  GIRTH  BACK  OF  THE 

FORE-LEGS 

the  final  death  convulsions  were  sufficient  to  joggle 
him  into  the  stream,  and  I  feared  he  was  lost.  All 
streams  here  have  a  strong  current  and  are  roily.  He 
floated  down  a  little  way  and  swung,  belly  up,  into  an 
eddy  on  my  side  of  the  river.  Great  luck! 

The  negroes  would  not  go  near  the  water,  but  Cun- 
inghame  fearlessly  waded  in  and  fastened  the  big  safari 
rope  to  his  jaw.  We  cut  away  the  papyrus  that  thickly 
fringed  the  river,  and  forty  men  hauled  him  out  upon  the 
bank.  He  was  ten  feet  nine  inches  long,  and  two  feet 
or  more  of  his  tail  had  been  bitten  off  by  a  hippopotamus. 
His  hide  also  showed  two  punctures  from  hippo  tusks. 
Hippos  are  granivorous  and  would  not  attempt  a 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

crocodile  diet,  and  the  most  ambitious  crocodile  would 
hardly  attempt  to  swallow  a  hippo,  but  they  find  them- 
selves thrown  together  in  these  narrow  pools,  and  the 
natural  aggressiveness  of  both  breeds  antagonism.  A 
hippo  in  his  element,  the  water,  is  an  antagonist  to  be 
reckoned  with.  The  crock  measured  seventy-two  inches 
in  girth  back  of  the  fore-legs.  After  skinning  we  opened 
him  and  found  a  water-buck  in  his  stomach.  A  water- 
buck  is  about  twice  the  size  and  weight  of  the  Adiron- 
dack deer.  He  of  course  crushed  the  bones  more  or 
less  as  he  swallowed.  The  contents  of  his  stomach  gives 
some  idea  of  the  reptile's  weight. 

These  crocodiles  lay  in  the  pools  and  at  the  fords  and 
seize  the  foot  of  any  crossing  animal,  drag  it  down 
beneath  the  water,  and  when  drowned  the  process  of 
crunching,  swallowing,  and  deglutition  ensues.  Oh!  the 
tragedy  of  wild  life! 

The  next  day's  trek  brought  us  to  buffalo  grounds. 
We  saw  a  rhino  on  the  way,  looked  him  over,  rode  round 
him,  and  turned  him  down  as  not  eligible.  We  reached 
our  camping-ground  about  I  P.M.  At  4  P.M  a  good 
rhino  appeared  about  three  hundred  yards  from  camp. 
The  spear-grass  here,  and  generally,  was  luxuriant  and 
as  tall  as  the  rhino.  I  thought  I  made  sufficient  allow- 
ance, but  shot  too  high  and  only  wounded  him,  and  not 
very  seriously,  so  the  guides  said. 

Soon  after  four  o'clock  I  started  for  buffaloes,  and 
one-half  mile  from  camp  saw  some  working  toward  me. 
They  were  in  the  thorn  scrub  and  evidently  proposed 
coming  out  into  the  open  to  feed.  In  ap£roa£hi_ng_they 
would^  have  to_cross  a  donga,  which  is  t-he  same  ^s  an 
arroyo  in  the  Rockies,  a_us\\ ally  dryjwaterco»^seT  which 

52 


A    CHANGE    OF    BASE 

a  hard  rain  will  convert  into  a  seething  torrent.  These 
dongas  are  difficult  to  cross;  their  sides  are  most  pre- 
cipitous. Two  buffaloes  entered  the  donga,  a  good- 
sized  bull  in  the  lead,  and  traveled  some  distance  out  of 
sight,  then  started  to  come  out  directly  in  front  of  me 


BUFFALO    SKULLS 


S3 


THE    STORY   OF   AN   OUTING 

and  one  hundred  yards  distant.  The  opening  in  the 
leaves  and  grass  made  by  continuous  game  travel  was 
filled  with  the  bulk  of  this  bull;  it  showed  distinctly 
black;  evidently  something  had  aroused  suspicion,  for 
he  ceased  to  advance,  and  stood  looking  directly  toward 
me.  Comfortably  resting  my  elbows  on  my  knees,  I 
aimed  at  the  center  of  the  black  with  my  .450-. 50x5  and 
fired.  They  ran  some  way  in  the  donga  and  came  out; 
I  fired  the  other  barrel  just  as  they  disappeared  in  the 
thorns.  The  blood  spoor  made  an  easy  trail.  At  about 
two  hundred  yards  he  had  turned  and  faced  us,  as  we 
could  easily  see  from  tracks  and  blood;  a  hundred  yards 
farther  on  he  did  the  same.  Major  Kirkwood  said  to 
me,  "Now,  Mr.  Hepburn,  I  can't  assume  the  respon- 
sibility of  taking  you  into  a  thorn  scrub  after  a  wounded 
buffalo,  accompanied  by  one  that  is  uninjured.  It  is 
more  dangerous  than  you  know;  he  is  mortally  wounded; 
the  gun-bearers  and  I  will  round  him  up  all  right;  you 
stay  here." 

I  relieved  the  Major  of  all  responsibility  and  went 
on,  but  they  exercised  the  greatest  scrutiny  of  every 
thorn  bush  and  every  side  trail,  to  guard  against  a  side 
or  rear  charge  from  the  unwounded  bull.  I  could  hardly 
restrain  my  impatience  at  the  slow  progress  made,  al- 
though I  knew  their  precautions  to  be  amply  justified. 
Buffaloes  are  said  to  be  treacherous,  which  means  you 
can't  depend  upon  what  they  will  do.  They  will  screen 
themselves  in  scrub  or  grass,  watch  your  advance,  and 
charge  you  from  side  or  rear  when  least  expected.  Un- 
injured buffaloes  accompanying  a  wounded  one  are  prone 
to  do  this. 

We  soon  came  upon  him,  however,  at  bay  and  looking 

54 


A    CHANGE    OF    BASE 


CUNINGHAME    IN    MIDDAY    COSTUME    CARING    FOR    TROPHIES 

for  trouble;  peering  between  two  thorns  it  was  easy 
to  administer  finishing  shots.  Kirkwood  announced  his 
horn-spread  as  forty-two  inches.  He  was  very  old,  very 
large,  and  very  fat.  Cuninghame  said  he  was  a  cast 

55 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

bull,  which  means  that  age  had  impaired  his  virility 
and  the  younger  and  more  aggressive  had  driven  him 
from  the  herd.  Word  went  to  camp,  and  the  whole 
safari  was  out  to  help  tote  him  in;  the  event_wjas  cele- 
b rated  with  great  ado,  all  the  more  because^  the  jne a t 
is  highly  prized  by  all.  Buffalo-tail  soup  is  the  best 
ever,  and  buffalo  tongue  simply  delicious.  The  fact  that 
we  had  just  made  camp  and  all  needed  meat  served, 
doubtless,  to  kindle  enthusiasm. 

The  next  day  I  left  the  buffalo  field  undisturbed,  went 


IMPALA    SHOT    BY    PIR1E 

out  in  the  evening  and  shot  two  impala,  with  very  good 
antlers. 

The  following  morning  I  went  for  my  second  buffalo, 
the  license  permitting  only  two.  We  saw  buffaloes  a 
mile  away  and  feeding  from  us.  It  took  a  long  time  to 
come  up  with  them,  walking  in  dongas,  crawling  over  the 
high  places  and  crouching  in  the  tall  grass.  The  last 

56 


A    CHANGE    OF    BASE 

two  hundred  yards  of  the  stalk  was  a  zigzag,  down- 
grade crawl.  A  direct  approach  would  have  doubtless 
exposed  us  to  view,  and  no  stalk  is  made  directly  toward 
game.  By  zigzagging  we  made  the  long  grass  cover  us 
from  possible  view. 

Imagine  traveling  on  hands  and  knees,  with  gun  in 


BUFFALO 


one  hand,  and  sometimes  literally  crawling,  for  two 
hundred  yards,  all  under  the  scrutiny  of  an  unsympa- 
thetic equatorial  sun,  at  a  temperature  in  the  nineties  or 
hundreds,  with  perspiration  not  oozing,  but  trickling,  from 
every  pore,  and  you  may  form  a  fair  idea  of  the  condi- 
tion of  one's  muscles  and  nerves  at  the  end  of  the  stalk. 
I  climbed  out  of  the  last  donga  within  seventy-five 
yards  of  the  best  bull.  The  grass  was  up  to  my  shoulders 
and  was  waving  above  his  back,  yet  he  stood  broadside, 

57 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

and  I  could  distinctly  make  out  his  outlines;  it  was  a 
fair  mark  and  an  easy  shot  but  for  the  tremulous  condi- 
tion of  my  muscles.  I  took  the  .450  and  missed  him, 
standing,  with  the  first  barrel,  and  then  missed  him, 
running,  with  the  second.  The  two  recoils  from  the 
.450  straightened  me  out.  I  quickly  changed  to  the 
Remington  automatic  and  caught  him,  running,  in  the 
vitals,  at  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards,  with  the  first  shot, 
and  broke  his  back  with  the  second.  The  spread  of  his 
horns  was  the  same  as  my  first,  forty-two  inches,  but 
they  were  smoother  and  altogether  a  better  head. 

Next  day  I  shot  a  rhinoceros — broke  his  neck  with  the 
.35  Remington.  His  head  was  only  fair,  but  peculiar  in 
that  it  had  two  equally  developed  horns,  eleven  inches 
in  height,  instead  of  having  one  very  short  one  and  the 
leading  horn  sixteen  to  eighteen  inches,  which  is  about 
the  best  obtainable  in  the  Tana  Valley. 

I  was  surprised  to  learn  that  a  rhinoceros's  horn  is  not 
attached  to  his  skull;  it  skins  off  with  the  hide.  It  seems 
also  strange  that  the  skin  on  a  crocodile  head  cannot  be 
taken  off,  any  more  than  you  could  skin  paint  off  a 
board.  You  can  scrape  or  sandpaper  it  off,  but  cannot 
skin  it.  Rhino  tongue  does  not  compare  with  buffalo, 
but  is  very  good  food  indeed. 

Next  day  I  shot  an  eland,  through  shoulder  into  vitals, 
with  my  Remington;  the  license  permits  only  one,  and  a 
splendid  specimen  it  was — horns  twenty-six  and  twenty- 
seven  inches;  he  weighed  fully  one  thousand  pounds. 
The  eland  is  the  largest  of  all  antelope,  is  excellent  food, 
and  is  beautiful  in  a  grand  way.  His  fawn-gray  coat 
and  buff-white  belly  are  very  attractive.  I  never  saw 
beast  so  round  and  fat;  so  round  that  when  he  fell  dead 

58 


THE    ELAND    I    SHOT 


ELAND,    ONE    YEAR    OLD,    IN    CAPTIVITY 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

his  upper  legs  did  not  come  within  a  foot  of  the  ground; 
the  collapse  of  death  usually  brings  all  feet  to  the 
ground;  the  rotundity  of  this  eland  prevented  that  and 
held  the  left  fore-leg  and  the  left  hind-leg  projecting  at 
least  one  foot  from  the  ground. 

This  practically  completed  my  license  limit  of  big  game 
available  in  that  locality,  except  carnivora;  only  a  few 
of  the  smaller  animals,  easily  acquired,  remained. 


VIII 

ANOTHER    CHANGE — LIONS 

OUR  head-man  reported  that  the  porters  were  dis- 
abled from  sore  feet  and  would  require  sandals 
before  another  trek  was  possible.  We  clothe  the  safari, 
either  actually  or  by  a  money  allowance,  which  is  the 
usual  way.  We  were  hunting  in  the  early  part  of  the 
rainy  season.  The  grass,  from  knee  to  shoulder  high, 
was  fast  being  broken  down  under  the  rains.  The 
grasses  in  Africa  have  edges  to  their  blades,  especially 
the  spear-grass,  and  not  only  cut  feet,  but  shoes  as  well. 
Most  of  our  trekking  had  been  over  the  veldt,  where 
paths  were  absent  or  not  well  defined.  In  short,  I  was 
asked  to  furnish  three  zebra  skins  that  the  porters  might 
be  shod.  I  had  no  desire  to  shoot  a  zebra,  beautiful, 
graceful,  and  picturesque.  I  would  have  much  preferred 
to  have  traded  the  hard-worked  nag  that  I  bestrode  for 
one  of  those  plump  beauties.  They  are  regarded  almost 
as  vermin,  and  your  license  permits  you  to  shoot  twenty. 
They  were  numerous,  and  usually  not  difficult  to  ap- 
proach within  two  hundred  and  fifty  or  three  hundred 
yards,  but  this  day,  in  executing  my  commission,  I  rode 
hard  and  long,  and  did  not  sight  one  until  12.30  P.M., 
when  the  hot  glow  of  the  sun  had  raised  a  shimmering 
heat  from  the  wet  earth,  producing  a  pulsating,  up- 

61 


ZEBRA 


WART    HOG 


ANOTHERCHANGE  — LIONS 

moving  atmosphere  similar  to  that  you  see  over  a  hot 
stove. 

All  this  renders  long-range  shooting  difficult.  The 
safari  was  put  in  traveling  condition,  but  after  a  long, 
hard  day,  and  an  unusual  mental  and  temperamental 
expenditure.  Many  things  look  very  easy  until  you  try 
them,  and  the  kind  of  game  you  do  not  want  is  usually 
most  in  evidence.  Midday  shooting  in  the  tropics  is 
rendered  very  difficult  on  account  of  heat  and  radiation 
from  the  wet  earth. 

My  friend's  complement  of  buffaloes  not  having  been 
obtained,  and  the  buffaloes  being  wise  to  our  presence, 
another  move  was  deemed  necessary,  so  we  crossed  two 
tributaries  in  one  day's  trek  and  camped  on  the  banks 
of  the  same  river — Ripingaza.  There  was  much  rain  at 
this  camp.  One  morning,  after  an  all-night  rain,  lasting 
until  six  o'clock,  I  started  out  rather  late,  with  only  one 
water-buck  and  one  impala  to  shoot.  I  was  resolved  to 
be  very  exacting  and  take  none  but  the  best.  This  proved 
to  be  the  red-letter  day  in  all  my  shooting  experience. 

We  had  gone  about  three  miles,  it  was  nine  o'clock, 
and  the  sun  had  broken  through  the  mists,  insuring  the 
typical  equatorial  day.  Major  Kirkwood,  about  fifty 
yards  in  front  of  me,  rode  upon  an  ant-hill  to  get  a  better 
view.  I  saw  him  drop  over  on  his  horse's  neck  and 
swing  him  round  off  the  ant-hill  in  haste,  and  knew 
something  important  was  in  sight.  As  we  came  to- 
gether he  announced  that  he  had  caught  a  glimpse  of  a 
lion's  ear  not  a  hundred  yards  away  in  the  long  grass. 
We  immediately  galloped  the  grass  in  ordei^fee-stfr  him 
upaTTcTget  a  shot^jind.^]; .die-saffl€-tH»e-jwe~s€t  the  gun- 
bearers  spooring. 

63 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

We  were  at  the  top  of  a  ridge  marking  one  side  of  a 
valley,  and  it  was  about  two  miles  across  to  the  top  of 
the  high  ground  marking  the  other  side.  The  inevitable 
donga,  always  difficult  to  negotiate  in  a  hurry,  traversed 
the  valley.  After  a  little  we  saw  three  lions — two  lions 
and  a  lioness — several  hundred  yards  distant,  making 
across  the  valley.  We  started  in  hot  pursuit,  but  when 
we  reached  the  donga  all  but  one  had  disappeared  over 
the  sky-line.  The  temptation  was  great,  and  I  could 
not  help  shooting  three  times  with  my  Remington  with 
point-blank  sights,  as  there  was  no  time  for  readjustments. 
It  was  all  useless;  I  replenished  my  magazine,  and,  pull- 
ing our  horses'  heads  so  high  that  they  could  not  see  the 
ground,  we  spurred  them  over  the  brink  into  the  donga, 
gave  them  their  heads,  and  under  the  excitement  they 
made  the  opposite  banks  beautifully.  Then  commenced 
a  long  mile  up-grade.  What  we  wished  to  do  was  to 
ride  round  the  lions  and  bring  them  to  bay,  and  we 
must  husband  our  horses'  strength  in  order  to  have  a 
spurt  in  them  when  it  came  to  the  final  dash.  A  lion 
confronted  will  not  turn  back  nor  turn  to  one  side,  and 
will  charge  presently.  It  is  an  issue  joined  and  you 
are  sure  of  him. 

A  lion's  legs  are  very  short;  he  travels  close  to  the 
ground  and  trots — he  seems  simply  to  glide.  When  they 
went  over  the  sky-line  they  probably  thought  the  danger 
past  and  halted,  or  slowed  down  at  least.  We  reached 
the  height,  and  after  going  about  three  hundred  yards 
saw  one  of  the  lions.  We  tried  to  round  him  up,  but  we 
could  not  gain  upon  him;  our  horses  were  all  in,  so 
Kirkwood  took  my  horse  by  the  bridle;  I  slid  off  to 
shoot.  A  mad  gallop  in  tall  grass,  where  neither  horse  nor 


ANOTHER    CHANGE  — LIONS 

rider  could  see  his  footing,  where  hidden  hole  might 
invite  serious  disaster,  was  a  serious  mental  strain  added 
to  the  other  excitement. 

I  fully  realized  that  the  chance  offered  to  make  mv 


THE  LION  FELL  AND  NEVER  MOVED 

trip  a  great  success  was   squarely  up  to_rne^_and   that 
the^  nexr^twojiinutes^won^   Hpt^rmin^ — E}7ex  nerve, 

and  muscle  responded  with  a  calm  confidence  that  made 
me  proud.     I  could  not  see  nearly  so  well  off  the  horse, 

65 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

but  still  that  tawny  streak  gliding  though  the  grass  was 
distinctly  visible.  I  covered  it  with  my  gun  and,  swing- 
ing well  to  the  fore  end  of  it,  fired.  He  went  down  in  a 
heap  and  was  up  in  an  instant  and  faced  me  with  a  roar, 
head  erect,  mane  bristling,  and  tail  vibrant.  When  he 
roared  another  lion  to  the  right  turned  at  bay  and 
roared  also,  and  they  kept  up  a  continual  growling. 
My  prayers  were  answered.  The  lions  were  escaping  in 
parallel  lines  about  forty  yards  apart,  and  fortunately  I 
had  come  up  about  midway  between  them.  I  never 
heard  a  lion  outside  a  zoo  before,  and  their  conversation 
is  surely  impressive — snarling,  growling,  threatening,  I 
hardly  know  how  to  describe  it;  it  was  incessant  while 
it  lasted.  I  never  took  my  eyes  from  the  first  lion  nor 
my  gun  from  my  face,  it  being  automatic.  Towering 
up  in  all  his  majesty,  his  neck  afforded  a  splendid  mark, 
and  I  broke  it  with  the  second  shot;  the  first  had  gone 
through  his  vitals  and  broken  the  opposite  shoulder  and 
would  have  been  fatal,  of  course,  after  a  little  time.  I 
turned  to  the  other,  sixty  to  seventy  yards  distant, 
towering  well  above  the  grass  directly  facing  me;  with 
distended  mane,  swishing  his  tail  and  fiercely  growling, 
he  made  himself  as  warlike  as  possible.  I  had  three 
cartridges  in  my  magazine;  I  decided  to  give  him  a  fatal 
shot  in  the  breast  with  the  first  one,  and  if  he  charged 
depend  upon  the  other  two  to  break  some  of  his  on-com- 
ing bones.  Only  a  single  shot  was  needed;  it  entered 
the  breast  a  trifle  high^  traversed  the  lumbar  regions,  and 
lodged  in  the  backbone,  back  of  the  pelvis,  almost  to  the 
tail.  He  fell  and  never  moved.  A  lion's  roar  has  a  deep, 
hollow,  hark-from-the-tomb  tone  and  quality  that  is  very 
penetra  ting  andcarries  a  wonderful  distance  across  country. 

66 


ANOTHER    CHANGE  — LIONS 

Assured  that  both  were  dead,  we  mounted  and  began 
scouring  the  surrounding  grass  for  the  lioness;  the  two 
killed  were  both  lions.  I  thought  I  had  found  her  once. 
My  horse  reared,  bolted,  cavorted,  and  I  thought  he 
would  throw  a  fit,  and  throw  me,  too.  I  could  not  force 


NINE    FEET   SIX    AND    NINE    FEET    NINE    INCHES,  RESPECTIVELY 

him  back  there;  I  could  head  him  toward  the  place,  but 
he  went  backward;  so  we  dismounted,  and  Kirkwood  and 
I  walked  it  up.  Doubtless  she  had  crouched  there  re- 
cently and  the  scent  must  have  been  very  strong.  We 
coursed  about  and  then  formed  our  ten  porters  and  four 
gun-bearers  into  a  line  in  order  to  cover  the  whole, 
ground^  Kirkwood  and  I  placed  ourselves  so  as  to  divide 
the  line  into  three  equal  parts.  We  had  advanced  only  a 
little  when  I  observed  that  the  line  had  resolved  itself 

6? 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

into  two  V's,  with  the  apex  pointing  to  Kirkwood  and 
myself;  evidently  the  negroes  were  not  anxious  to  find  a 
Jion.  We  careTuTty~coVered  the  groLmdTbut  her  majesty 
had  made  good  her  escape.  Instead  of  turning  at  bay 
with  the  others,  she  turned  -away,  which  was  good  judg- 
ment from  her  standpoint,  however  disappointing  to 
me.)  The  lions  measured  respectively  from  tip  of  nose 
tip  of  tail,  nine  feet  six  inches  and  nine  feet  nine 

jhe^r 

The  lion  belongs  to  the  cat  family  and  stalks  game 
much  the  same  as  our  domestic  cat;  the  swish  of  the 
tail  is  the  same.  When  confronting  danger  a  lion  does 
not  lash  his  sides,  but  he  does  swish  his  tail  vigorously, 
elevated  at  a  slight  angle  until  about  to  charge,  when  his 
tail,  straight  behind,  becomes  rigid,  save  the  brush, 
which  is  all  a-tremor. 

The  lion  has  a  clavicle,  or  collar-bone,  the  same  as  a 
man,  and  is,  I  believe,  the  only  beast  that  possesses 
this  human  characteristic.  He  is  able  to  handle  his 
fore-legs  with  the  same  mobility  and  flexibility  that  a 
man  has  in  his  arms.  A  horse  or  moose  in  fighting 
strikes  with  his  fore-legs,  but  the  only  motion  possible  to 
them  is  a  rotary  motion  parallel  with  the  line  of  their 
body,  hence  any  blow  delivered  must  be  forward  and 
downward.  A  lion  can  deliver  a  "side  swipe"  as  well  as 
a  man,  and  for  all  I  know  may  be  a  past-master  in  the 
"upper-cut"  blow  so  effective  in  pugilism. 

The  possession  of  this  clavicle  and  consequent  com- 
mand of  his  fore-legs  adds  greatly  to  his  efficiency  as  a 
fighting  force. 

Well,  I  had  two  lions  and  had  got  them  in  the  most 
approved  manner.  I  did  not  shoot  them  at  a  kill  from 

68 


ANOTHER  CHANGE— LIONS 

a  boma  nor  shoot  them  at  a  kill  from  a  tree.  I  got  them 
in  the  great  wide  open,  after  the  most  exciting  horse- 
back ride  I  ever  experienced.  It^as  great  luck,  availed 
of  with  good  judgment  and  good  execution,  and  I  was 
satisfied.  Satisfied^  Every  fiber  in  my  system  tingled 
with  delight,  every  sportsmanlike  impulse,  every  mental 
process,  reveled  in  serene  happiness. 


IX 

ANOTHER   TREK — HIPPO — ANTS 

THE  buffaloes  here,  though  plentiful,  proved  too 
canny,  and  it  was  deemed  best  to  return  to  our 
last  camp,  which  had  had  a  four  days'  rest.  Having 
reached  my  limit,  save  for  congoni  and  zebras  and  carniv- 
ora,  I  hunted  with  my  second  gun-bearer,  the  talent  in 
our  expedition  devoting  themselves  to  rounding  up  and 
locating  buffalo.  I  hoped  for  lion,  and  saw  two,  way 
out  of  possible  range,  with  my  horse  and  sais  way  in  the 
rear.  The  rains  had  been  very  heavy,  and  my  fagged 
horse  could  hardly  have  overtaken  them  had  he  been 
immediately  available.  A  good,  fresh  horse  would  have 
made  me  thrice  happy,  as  I  found  them  in  the  midst  of 
an  open  country.  I  only  saw  them  as  they  covered  a 
space  of  fifty  yards,  the  long  grass  soon  hiding  them 
from  view. 

This  was  not  a  hippo  country,  but  in  default  of  any- 
thing else  I  began  hunting  the  river,  knowing  there  were 
a  few  about.  A  hippo  has  the  best  of  ears,  a  keen  nose, 
and  fairly  good  eyes.  I  ranged  up-country  about  ten 
miles,  hoping  for  lion,  leopard,  or  cheetah,  and  then 
struck  the  river  to  hunt  up-wind  back  to  camp.  I 
finally  heard  the  heavy  breathing  of  a  sleeping  hippo  as 
he  came  to  the  surface  of  the  pool  at  regular  intervals 

70 


ANOTHER    TREK  — HIPPO-ANTS 

for  air.  I  crawled  among  the  reeds,  twelve  feet  high,  on 
the  bank,  as  close  to  the  stream  as  prudence  would  allow, 
located  the  sound,  and  parted  the  reeds  sufficiently  to 
afford  a  fair  view  of  the  water.  The  breathing  con- 
tinued at  intervals,  sometimes  one  long  breath  and 
sometimes  two  or  three  shorter  ones,  but  neither  with 
naked  eye  nor  with  field-glass  could  I  detect  sufficient 
hippo  to  afford  any  kind  of  a  mark;  so  I  waited,  waited 
four  hours,  from  one  until  five  o'clock,  lying  in  the 
reeds,  my  gun-bearer,  stolid  as  the  sign  of  a  cigar-store, 
sitting  a  few  feet  distant.  In  the^wind-wavpn  re^Hsjimj 
the  music  of  the  rushing  waters  the  panorama  of  my  past 
sporting  life  passed  in  review  before  me.  I  recalled  an 
experience  camping  on  Mt.  Carbon  in  Colorado  at  tim- 
ber-line, above  insect  and  small  animal  and  bird  life, 
above  the  noise,  the  very  considerable  noise,  that  small 
living  creatures  contribute  to  daily  life,  to  which  custom 
dulls  our  ears,  and  which,  therefore,  we  fail  to  notice. 
It  is  so  still  above  timber-line  that  silence  is  said  to  be 
audible.  My  camp  was  half  a  mile  from  the  Ute  Indian 
Reservation,  and  the  Utes  were  to  be  moved  October  ist 
to  another  reservation  in  Utah.  Rumors  were  rife  that 
they  would  refuse  to  move  peacefully  and  would  go  on 
the  war-path;  United  States  soldiers  were  placed  at 
strategic  points,  as  a  precaution,  and  a  good  deal  of 
uneasiness  prevailed  among  the  settlers;  this  was  in 
1881. 

Alone  in  camp  in  all  this  stillness  I  sat  comfortably 
bolstered  up  against  the  woodpile,  reading.  My  eyes 
glancing  up  from  my  book,  I  beheld  thirteen  Indians 
seated  in  a  circle  around  the  cooking-fire  with  knees 
drawn  up,  arms  on  knees,  and  looking  at  the  ground. 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

How  in  the  world  they  got  there  without  my  hearing 
them  and  whence  they  came  were  a  mystery.  What 
did  they  want?  Evidently  their  intentions  were  not 
hostile  or  I  would  have  discovered  it  from  some  overt 
act  of  theirs.  I  looked  about,  and  my  gun  was  some 
distance  away.  What  should  I  do?  What  should  I  say? 
I  am  not  a  good  conversationalist  at  best,  and  I  never 
had  such  labor  in  starting  a  conversation.  I  "ahemmed  " 
several  times  without  attracting  attention.  I  said 
"Good  morning"  with  equally  barren  results.  I  finally 
advanced  a  step  or  two,  paused,  and  gazed  at  them; 
whereupon  the  chief  of  the  band  arose,  advanced,  and 
held  out  his  hand  and  said,  "How  do,  son-bitch?"  I 
recognized  the  salutation,  and  shook  his  hand,  where- 
upon he  returned  and  resumed  his  former  seat  in  pristine 
stolidity.  Evidently  they  were  hungry.  We  had  quan- 
tities of  game  hanging  about,  and  I  pointed  to  the  same 
and  asked  if  they  were  hungry.  They  understood  the 
gesture  and  straightway  kindled  afresh  the  fire.  Each 
cutting  such  a  hunk  of  venison  or  elk  as  his  appetite 
craved,  proceeded  to  cook  it  on  a  stick  over  the  fire;  they 
barely  heated  it  through,  and  then  ate  and  resumed  their 
circular  seats  around  the  fire.  The  pipe  of  peace  had 
been  in  my  mind  for  some  time.  I  took  a  plug  of  navy 
smoking-tobacco  about  a  foot  in  length,  and  cut  off 
thirteen  strips  and  gave  one  to  each.  They  received  the 
same  with  alacrity,  filled  and  lighted  their  pipes,  and 
resumed  their  seats.  Well,  it  was  interesting,  but  I 
heartily  wished  the  reception  over,  and,  carelessly  seating 
myself  in  proximity  to  my  gun,  resolved  to  sit  it  out. 
Their  pipes  finished,  at  a  guttural  command  from  their 
chief  they  arose,  swung  into  line,  and  advanced  to  me; 

72 


ANOTHER    TREK  — HIPPO  — ANTS 

the  chief  held  out  his  hand  and  said,  "Good-by,  son- 
bitch,"  whereupon  they  disappeared  down  the  trail,  and 
I  have  not  seen  them  since.  The  English  vocabulary  of 
that  Indian  was  limited,  but  he  had  evidently  made  a 
study  of  the  white  man. 

At  five  o'clock  the  hippo  gave  evidence  of  activity, 
the  breathing  moved  up-stream.  I  crawled  out  of  the 
reeds  and  walked  up  the  bank  just  in  time  to  see  the 
hippo  in  very  swift  water  about  half-way  up  his  sides, 


READY    FOR    THE    AFTERNOON    QUEST 

just  about  to  enter  the  grass  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
river,  in  quest  of  his  feeding-grounds.  He  gave  me  a 
quartering  ear  shot,  which  I  took;  he  stuck  his  nose  up 

73 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

in  the  air  in  pain  and  thus  gave  me  a  good  shot  at  the 
base  of  the  brain,  whereupon  he  collapsed,  stern  toward 
me. 

The  current  slowly  rolled  the  body  round  and  down- 
stream, giving  a  water  shot  at  the  head.  The  body  came 
along  down-stream  into  the  deep  water  of  the  pool, 
where  the  current  was  less  swift;  we  could  see  it  for  about 
six  rods.  A  hippo  always  sinks  when  killed,  and  he  also 
sinks  when  he  is  disturbed  and  not  killed.  In  the 
sunshine  he  will  bloat  and  float  in  two  hours  in  that 
country;  in  the  shade  or  in  the  night  it  would  require 
three  hours  or  more.  He  would  therefore  not  come  up 
until  long  after  dark.  It  had  been  raining  hard  on  Kenia 
all  day  and  the  water  was  up  three  or  four  feet  next 
morning.  A  bloated  hippo  with  his  short  legs  is  much 
like  a  pufF-ball,  and  he  doubtless  passed  our  camp  while 
we  were  held  fast  in  sleep.  They  had  to  send  out 
porters  with  lanterns  to  light  us  back  to  camp;  in  the 
last  mile  and  a  half  we  crossed  two  very  bad  dongas. 

Ants 

Leisure  gave  me  opportunity  to  study  the  ant-hills 
with  which  this  country  is  dotted.  They  are  rotund  or 
conical  in  shape,  eight  or  ten  feet  high  and  fifteen  to 
twenty  feet  in  diameter  on  the  average.  They  are  built 
with  surface  dirt,  carried  by  these  little  white  ants, 
about  one-fourth  of  an  inch  long.  In  the  center  of  the 
hill  is  located  the  queen  ant,  which  is  a  Brobdingnagian 
among  Lilliputians.  She  is  from  three  to  five  inches  long 
and  one  or  two  inches  broad.  Her  sole  function  seems 
to  be  to  produce  her  kind,  and  the  process  of  fertilization 
and  production  is  continuous. 


X 

REMINISCENCES — TICKS — BIRDS 

A 

IN  the  fall  of  1911  I  made  an  appointment  with  /'/1/ 
grizzly  bear  at  Bear  Lake,  British  Columbia.  The 
Pacific  salmon,  both  Chinook  and  sockeye,  enter  the 
Eraser  River  at  Vancouver  some  time  in  June  of  each 
year  and  commence  their  long,  foodless  ascent  to  the 
place  where  they  were  spawned.  It  is  a  strange  law 
of  nature  that  sends  this  fish  back  to  the  place  of  its 
birth,  to,  in  turn,  drop  its  spawn,  and  denies  it  food 
after  entering  fresh  water — denies  by  taking  away  the 
desire  for  food.  They  go  up  the  Fraser,  branching  off 
at  the  different  tributaries  according  to  their  nativity. 
It  is  seven  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  Vancouver 
up  the  Fraser  and  up  the  Bear  River  to  Bear  Lake,  and 
these  salmon,  the  Chinook  at  the  outlet  and  the  sockeye 
thirty  miles  farther  up  on  the  inlet,  reach  their  spawning- 
beds  from  the  ist  to  the  I5th  of  September.  The  jour- 
ney is  long,  the  current  swift,  and  they  become  weak 
and  thin;  the  Chinook  change  to  a  dark  magenta  in 
color,  and  the  sockeye  to  scarlet,  and  are  very  beautiful 
in  the  water.  The  female  drops  her  spawn,  the  male 
fertilizes,  and  both  protect  for  about  two  weeks,  and  then, 
answering  the  law  of  their  being,  turn  a  ghostly  whitish 
color,  die  and  drift  upon  the  sand-bars,  where  carnivorous 
birds  and  beasts  hold  revel. 

75 


THE    STORY   OF    AN    OUTING 

The  bears  do  not  wait  for  this,  but  wade  in  and  deftly 
throw  the  fish  upon  the  bank  with  their  paws  and  then 
cache  them;  one  bear  will  have  many  caches;  they  feed 
and  fatten  upon  these  fish  until  hibernation,  for  about 
this  time  the  first  frost  kills  all  the  berries.  Bears  go 
into  hibernation,  not  so  much  according  to  the  depth  of 
the  snow  or  the  particular  time  of  year,  but  when  they 
have  accumulated  fat  enough  to  carry  them  through  the 
winter,  and  they  seem  to  know  when  their  maximum 
condition  is  reached. 

I  made  elaborate  plans  to  be  a  party  to  the  bear- 
salmon  meeting  only  to  find  that  "the  best-laid  schemes 
gang  aft  a-gley."  The  onrushing  railroad  construction 
through  Yellowhead  Pass  had  inspired  the  British 
Columbia  government  to  send  in  a  party  of  surveyors 
to  survey  a  territory  possessing  valuable  coal-deposits. 
They  came  to  the  lake  by  pack-train,  bringing  axes, 
whip-saws,  jack-planes,  shaves,  etc.,  and  began  felling 
trees  and  whip-sawing  lumber  with  which  to  build 
bateaux  to  carry  a  party  of  surveyors,  implements,  pro- 
visions, etc.,  down  the  river  for  a  three-months'  labor. 
The  noise  of  their  labors,  the  fishing  and  shooting  of 
their  camp  foragers,  sent  all  bears  out  of  the  country  at 
once.  I  still  had  hopes  of  the  sockeye  country  above  the 
lake,  but  lo!  another  danger  appeared — a  party  of  pre- 
emptors,  three  men  with  their  wives,  one  having  three 
girls,  aged  four,  eight,  and  twelve  years  respectively,  six 
dogs,  quantities  of  traps,  fourteen  horses,  one  thousand 
pounds  of  flour,  sugar  and  bacon  to  correspond,  hay- 
ing tools,  etc.  They  immediately  asked  to  be  shown 
"where  them  hay-medders  is."  They  had  come  there 
to  pre-empt  land.  They  expected  to  cut  hay  to  winter 


REMINISCENCES  —  TICKS  —  BIRDS 

their  horses,  build  log  barns  and  huts  for  beasts  and 
people,  live  upon  fish  from  the  streams,  moose,  caribou, 
and  deer  meat  plus  the  provisions  they  had  brought,  and 
during  the  winter  notice  the  best  land  to  pre-empt  under 
the  British  Columbia  Homestead  law  in  the  spring. 

The  grass  growing  upon  the  meadows  was  utterly 
unfitted  to  support  animal  life;  they  looked  it  all  over, 
and  their  dogs  raced  it  all  over,  and  my  second  hope  of 
bear  vanished  into  thin  air.  I  said  to  the  elder  man: 

"Pardon  my  curiosity,  but  it  seems  strange  to  me  that 
you  should  come  to  this  place  the  first  of  October,  a  mile 
above  sea-level,  expecting  to  build  homes  and  winter 
your  people  and  horses  here." 

He  named  a  man,  a  lifelong  friend,  who  had  told 
him  the  land  there  was  the  choicest,  abundant  forage 
growing  wild,  and  that  it  was  easy  to  live  upon  the  game 
abounding  in  forest  and  stream. 

"Why  bring  these  women?" 

"They  wanted  to  come."  ^^< 

"Why  bring  these  girls  to  be  immured  in  small  cabins  \ 
seven  months,  with  the  snow  seven  feet  deep;  boys  might    K 
get  out  and  disport  themselves  and  relieve  the  mma 
the  cabins — but  girls?" 

"Wall,  mister,  perhaps  you  think  you  could  follow 
them  girls  on  snow-shoes;  I'd  like  to  see  you  try." 

"Radishes  and  lettuce  are  the  only  vegetables  you 
can  grow  here,  and  timothy  the  only  crop  raisable." 

"Yes,  yes.  I  am  greatly  disappointed.  I  came  on  a 
false  scent,  and  nothing  to  do  but  clear  out  of  here.  The 
man  who  sent  me  here  knows  good  farm  land,  and  he  said 
he'd  been  here;  he  lied,  evidently." 

"Were  you  not  well  located  before?" 

77 


THE    STORY   OF    AN    OUTING 

"You  seem  very  curious,  and  you  seem  to  think  I've 
done  wrong.  Now  I'll  tell  you  all  about  it.  Twenty 
years  ago  this  man  here  and  myself  pre-empted  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  each  in  southern  Oregon.  I 
cleared  up,  built  buildings,  and  raised  my  family.  The 
neighbors  got  pretty  thick.  I  had  a  chance  to  sell  out, 
and  sold  out;  had  all  my  stock  and  loose  property  and 
thirty-eight  hundred  dollars  in  the  bank.  My  friend 
here  leased  his  place  for  three  years,  and  we  started  for 
Bear  Lake.  If  I  had  had  money  enough  to  have  bought 
a  section,  six  hundred  and  forty  acres,  when  I  pre- 
empted in  Oregon,  I'd  have  been  a  rich  man  now.  I 
expected  to  pre-empt  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  here, 
buy  some  more  and  live  here  ten  or  fifteen  years  and 
make  the  growth  in  price,  and  then  I'd  have  money 
enough  to  last  me  out  and  take  good  care  of  my  family. 
Now  what's  the  matter  with  that  reasoning?  Didn't 
I  try  to  do  it  all  right?" 

uYes.  The  misfortune  is  that  you  did  not  inquire 
more  about  this  country.  They  could  have  told  you  in 
Vancouver.  How  long  have  you  been  coming?" 

"Five  months  and  two  weeks." 

"You  practically  crossed  the  state  of  Oregon  and  the 
state  of  Washington,  and  have  come  seven  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  in  British  Columbia  to  this  place,  camping 
along  the  route;  you  expected  to  find  good  land  cheap, 
because  of  its  remoteness." 

"Yes." 

This  man  typified  the  wanderlust,  the  landlust  that 
inspire  the  pioneer  settlers.  They  cannot  endure 
neighbors;  they  hunger  for  the  solitude  of  forest  or 
plain;  they  have  a  kinship  with  wild  life,  and  eke  out 

78 


REMINISCENCES  — TICKS  — B  I  RDS 

their  existence,  sufficient  unto  themselves  as  to  fellow- 
ship and  social  relations.  The  zest  inspired  by  dog 
and  trap  and  gun  blinded  their  eyes  to  such  scrutiny  of 
the  land  and  place  as  was  easily  open  to  them. 

He  finally  turned  upon  me  and  said: 

"Now,  I'd  like  to  ask  you  a  few  questions.  What's 
your  name  and  where  do  you  live?" 

I  told  him. 

"What  are  you  out  here  for — spending  your  money 
on  a  pack-train  and  guides?  Want  to  kill  a  grizzly  so 
you  can  go  back  and  brag  about  it?" 

"Yes,  that's  about  right.  I  wanted  to  get  out  into 
the  open,  away  from  men  and  business  and  rest  and 
brace  up  so  I  can  go  back  home  and  stand  the  racket 
and  earn  my  salary." 

"What  is  your  salary?" 

When  I  told  him  he  said: 

"God  A'mighty,  what  do  you  do?" 

Told  I  wasabanker,  he  asked:   "How  big  is  your 

The  $15,000,000  capital  and  profits  and  $140,000,000 
deposits  found  no  registering  intelligence  in  his  mind. 

"How  big  is  New  York?" 

I  told  him  the  last  census  showed  4,778,000  people. 

He  puzzled  and  said,  "That  is  forty-seven  times  as  big 
as  Vancouver.  How  long  and  how  wide  is  it?" 

"About  fifteen  miles  north  and  south  and  about  the 
same  east  and  west." 

"No,  I  don't  mean  prairie,  just  where  the  houses  is, 
good  houses,  not  shacks." 

I  gave  him  conservative  information  as  to  houses, 
told  him  I  lunched  on  the  twenty-fifth  floor  of  a  thirty- 

79 


THE    STORY   OF   AN   OUTING 

five-story  building,  and  my  lunch-club  was  at  least  one 
hundred  yards  above  the  street.  I  do  not  know  that  he 
ever  heard  of  Gulliver's  Travels,  but  if  he  had,  he  certainly 
must  have  regarded  me  as  the  up-to-date  Baron  Mun- 
chausen. 

The^country  owes  much  to  this  spirit  of  adventure, 
wanderlust,  a  desire  to  be  next  to  nature  and  her  store- 
house, from  which  one  may  help  himself  unhindered  and 
have  the  helping  seasoned  with  the  excitement  of  quest 
or  hunt.  I  once  offered  two  Monmouth  fishermen,  fish- 
ing for  the  market,  four  times  what  they  said  their 
labor  yielded  per  day  upon  the  average,  to  take  me  out 
fishing  the  next  day.  The  reply  was: 

"No,  to-morrow  may  be  the  day  of  all  the  year  that 
yields  our  biggest  catch,  and  should  we  go  with  you  we 
would  lose  it." 

The  speculative  hope,  the  element  of  luck,  sweetens 
the  day  dreams,  buoys  up  the  expectation,  parts  the 
mists,  gives  a  view,  however  blurred,  of  the  airy  castles 
of  a  better  condition,  and  gives  spice  to  many  vocations, 
and  to  none  more  than  the  frontiersmen,  the  pioneers  of 
advancing  settlement. 

The  Daily  Inquest 

One  of  the  Carituck  duck  clubs  has  inscribed  over  the 
fireplace  in  the  gun-room  this  poetical  sentiment: 

"What  they  hit  is  history, 
What  they  missed  is  mystery." 

That  poignant  and  significant  sentence  is  a  cogent 
comment  upon  and  characterization  of  the  reminiscences 
of  every  shooting-club  and  camp-fire,  and  safaris  are  no 
exception,  but  the  most  fruitful  subject  of  conversation 

80 


REMINISCENCES— TICKS  — B  I  RDS 

with  us  was  ticks.  They  have  many  kinds  and  they  are 
all  very  affectionate.  One  kind  has  three  interesting 
stages.  At  birth  it  is  almost  too  small  to  be  seen  with 
the  naked  eye,  but  it  can  be  felt  blindfold.  It  burns 
like  our  sand-flies;  it  fills  itself  with  blood,  and  in  about 
four  months  grows  to  medium  size  on  that  one  meal- 
twice  the  size  of  a  sand-fly — and  has  four  legs.  It  again 
fills  itself  with  blood,  and  in  four  or  five  months  attains 
full  size  and  has  eight  or  ten  legs.  It  has  two  mouths, 
one  on  each  side  of  its  head  or  throat.  It  again  fills 
itself  with  blood.  The  female  lays  its  eggs  through 
the  thorax  on  the  top  of  grass  stalks,  the  male  fertilizes, 
and,  their  mission  being  completed,  they  die  and  leave 
their  nits  to  continue  the  circuit.  They  take  the  life 
out  of  your  horses;  it  is  a  good  sais  who  can  care  for  one 
horse  so  as  to  keep  him  in  condition,  keep  him  fairly 
free  from  these  pests.  Mosquitoes  were  few,  but  suffi- 
cient to  give  both  Pirie  and  Cuninghame  malignant 
malaria.  Two  of  our  horses  died  from  tsetse-fly  before 
we  left,  and  the  other  two  seemed  doomed. 

Centipedes,  six  or  seven  inches  long,  a  dark  olive 
green  and  very  poisonous,  were  plentiful.  Scorpions  were 
also  numerous  and  have  a  tendency  to  crawl  into  boot  or 
slipper.  I  saw  pufF-adder,  but  no  hooded  cobra,  although 
they  abound  in  the  territory  where  we  hunted.  One  of 
our  horses  had  a  bad  leg  from  scorpion  bite,  but  very 
little  is  to  be  feared  from  poisonous  reptiles;  it  may  be 
fairly  cut  out  of  one's  reckoning. 

Birds 

Crane  of  various  kinds  were  numerous  and  beautiful; 
the  maribou  crane  was  especially  neighborly;  scavenger 

81 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

birds  were  numerous;  the  guinea-fowl,  a  native  of  Africa, 
is  quite  plentiful,  and  affords  good  wing-shooting  and 
delicious  food.  You  might  hunt  a  long  time  without 
finding  any,  however,  owing  to  the  long  grass.  You 
frequently  stumble  upon  them,  especially  when  making  a 
difficult  stalk  for  big  game. 


TYPICAL    INDIAN    STORE    AND    DWELLING    WHICH    DOT    THE    COUNTRY 
AND    AFFORD    THE     NATIVES     PLACES    TO    TRADE    AND    BARTER 


The  Francolin  pheasant,  wrongly  so  called — they  be- 
long to  the  grouse  family — are  numerous  and  excellent 
food.  Their  song  or  call  is  in  sound  and  musical  har- 
mony about  midway  between  an  asthmatic  pump  and 
riling  a  saw,  quite  on  a  par  with  that  of  the  guinea-fowl. 
They  are  easy  to  shoot  on  the  wing,  and  also  make  them- 

82 


REMINISCENCES  — TICKS  — B  I  RDS 

selves  conspicuous  on  some  dead  tree  or  other  object, 
and  advertise  the  fact. 

Sand-grouse  are  plentiful,  but  get  up  without  warning 
and  are  apt  to  give  you  a  very  wide  shot.  Quail  are 
numerous,  darker  in  color,  but  otherwise  like  our  bob- 
whites.  There  seemed  to  be  many  harsh-noted  birds, 
and,  although  some  had  agreeable  voices,  the  melody  that 
we  associate  with  song-bird  life  seemed  sadly  deficient. 
Thisjwas  not  ^wing^to  the  season;  birds  mate  and  ani- 
mals breed  all  times  of  the~year: 

We  did  little  bird-shooting,  except  when  breaking  or 
moving  camp,  since  shooting-up  the  country  drives  the 
big  game  away. 


XI 

ROUNDING-UP 

MY  partner,  Pirie,  gave  during  this  trip  an  exhibition 
of  that  grit  and  perseverance  which  carries  men  to 
success.  The  intense  sunlight  affected  his  eyes  beyond 
the  average,  but,  in  addition,  he  was  far  from  well. 
For  many  days  he  had  a  temperature  well  above  100 
degrees,  which  was  alarming  to  Cuninghame  and  my- 
self, but  seemed  to  give  him  no  anxiety.  He  hunted 
every  day,  rain  or  shine,  in  wet  grass  and  hot  sun,  in 
a  condition  which  would  and  should  have  sent  most 
men  to  their  bunks. 

He  had  hard  work  with  his  buffalo,  but  by  virtue  of 
persistent  determination  he  succeeded  in  getting  the 
two  allowed  by  law.  On  March  3Oth  he  shot  the  com- 
manding bull  in  a  herd  of  twenty-five,  a  very  fine  animal 
indeed.  We  had  our  limit  of  cervidae  available  in  that 
locality,  and  on  April  1st  commenced  a  six-days'  trek 
to  Nairobi. 

We  had  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  full  complement  of 
porters,  so  our  whole  safari  moved  along  smoothly  and 
in  order.  How  uninteresting  and  tiresome  was  our 
return,  devoid  of  the  novelty  and  anticipation  which 
inspired  our  outward  journey! 

" 


ROUNDING-UP 


OUR   "SAFARI"   CELEBRATING   TIRIE'S   FIRST   BUFFALO 

Elephants 

Pirie,  notwithstanding  his  great  desire  to  hunt  ele- 
phant, abandoned  his  purpose  to  do  so  on  account  of  his 
physical  condition. 

The  great  question  confronting  me  at  this  time  was 
elephants.  Should  I  brave  the  continuous  wet  and  cold 
of  a  bamboo  forest  in~the  wet  season  on  the__gide_of 
Mt.  Kenia — wet  clothes,  wet  blankets  for  days  at  a  time? 
The  more  rain,  the  better  for  elephant-hunting.  The  sun 
never  penetrates  a  bamboo  forest,  and  once  wet  through 
it  drips  and  drips.  Should  I  encounter  these  hardships 
and  add  a  tusker  to  my  string  of  trophies,  or  should 
reason  hold  sway  and  a  physique,  no  longer  young,  be 
accorded  the  consideration  to  which  it  might  fairly  lay 
claim.  Ambition  said  yes,  but  discretion  ahemmed 
somewhat. 

At  the  first  circus  I  attended  I  stood  before  the  elephant 

85 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

with  reverential  awe;  massive,  contemplative,  dignified 
he  seemed,  and  with  kindly  condescension  he  reached 
out  with  his  trunk,  and  I  thought  he  wanted  to -shake 
hands.  Instead,  he  relieved  my  hand  of  the  uncon- 
sumed  portion  of  a  cake.  He  subsequently  received  pea- 
nuts with  great  familiarity.  Having  ignored  my  com- 
parative insignificance  and  raised  me  to  his  own  social 
level  by  breaking  bread  with  me,  he  won  a  place  in  my 
affection  and  always  seemed  to  me  an  animal  to  be  culti- 
vated, not  shot.  Useful  to  man  in  so  many  ways,  I  have 
never  thought  of  him  as  a  game  animal,  and  was  there- 
fore not  so  keen  for  elephant-shooting.  Hence  we  made 
haste  for  Nairobi,  where  we  arrived  early  on  April  yth. 


RAPID   TRANSIT    IN    BRITISH    EAST    AFRICA 

Next  day,  with  greatly  reduced  safari,  we  went  by 
rail  to  Kapiti  Plains,  about  thirty  miles  from  Nairobi, 
returning  on  the  I2th,  when  we  closed  our  safari  and 
left  on  the  I4th  for  New  York. 

86 


ROUNDING-UP 

We  were^thjjg\^ight~daysin  the  JielcOseven  teen  of 
which  were  consumed  in  trekking  and  twenty-one  in 
hunting.  We  went  to  Kapiti  for  Thomson's  gazelles  and 
Grant's  gazelles,  wildebeest,  and  zebra.  We  had  no  dif- 


INDIAN    BAZAAR,    NAIROBI 

ficulty  in  getting  these,  although  the  week's-end  hunters 
from  Nairobi  keep  them  very  wild,  and  I  did  my  shooting 
atjrom  three  hundred  tofive  hundred  yards.  Successful 
marksmanship  at  such  distances  has  an  especial  charm. 
The  grass  everywhere  was  so  tall  as  to  largely  cover  the 
game.  Shooting,  standing,  at  arm's-length  was  the  only 
method  possible.  The  open  plains  afforded  no  object  upon 
which  to  rest  a  gun,  and  to  rest  your  elbows  upon  your 
knees  would  be  to  drop  so  low  as  to  lose  sight  of  the  game. 

8? 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

One  morning,  in  a  comparatively  narrow  strip  a  mile 
perhaps  in  width,  between  the  river  and  the  hills,  I  shot 
five  different  animals,  and  in  so  doing  I  thoroughly 
stirred  up  all  the  game  present,  and  finally  they  became 
so  alarmed  that  they  all  stampeded,  and  going  up-river 
they  passed  by  within  a  half-mile  of  me.  It  is  an  under- 
statement to  say  that  at  least  one  thousand  zebras  and 
one  thousand  hartebeests,  together  with  much  lesser 
number  of  wildebeests,  Grants,  Tommies,  impala,  etc., 
went  by  in  the  procession. 

A  mile  above  me  the  procession  divided,  part  continu- 


STREET    IN    NAIROBI 


ing  on  and  part  crossing  the  river.     It  was  a  wonderful 
and  beautiful  sight,  and  one  long  to  be  remembered. 
The   difficulty  in_^African-  shoo  tin  vis   not   to   kill   a 


specimen,  but  to  select  goodLexamples,  and  getting  the 
cervidae  that  Africa  affords  is  simply  a  question  of  going 
where  they  are.  To  get  all  the  different  kinds  of  buck 


ROUNDING-UP 

—the  number  exceeds  one  hundred  and  fifty — would 
necessitate  covering  the  continent,  and  would  take 
years  for  its  accomplishment,  as  traveling  is  difficult. 
A  few  of  the  greater  prizes  are  difficult,  some  very  much 
so,  but  most  of  them  are  comparatively  easy. 

There  is  no  danger  of  Africa's  being  "shot  out." 
The  enormous  garne  reservations  afford  ample  protection 
and  ample  breeding-grounds.  Year  by  year  the  number 
a  sportsman  may  kill  is  being  reduced.  Lions  were  this 


year  transferred  from  "vermin"  to  the  protected  list, 
and  the  number  a  sportsman  may  kill  limited  to  four. 
Game  easily  learn  the  danger  of  man  and  firearms,  and 
a  good  "bag"  is  a  matter  of  growing  difficulty. 


Danger 

Much  discussion  obtains  as  to  which  is  the  most  dan-  ^r 
gerous  animal  to  hunt.  Left  to  Africanders  to  decide, 
elephant  would  be  so  voted,  I  think.  In  elephant- 
hunting,  in  addition  to  the  direct  charge  of  an  infuriated 
animal,  there  is  danger  of  being  trampled  to  death  in  a 
stampede.  Should  one  get  in  among  a  herd  of  cows, 
which  may  not  under  any  circumstances  be  shot,  there 
is  danger  in  case  of  a  breakaway  or  stampede  of  being 
run  down  and  killed  without  especial  intent  on  the  part 
of  the  animal  inflicting  the  injury. 

The  same  statement  applies  to  buffalo,  and  in  addition 
the  buffalo  possesses  a  viciousness  that  does  not  obtain 
with  the  elephant.  Neither  the  buffalo  nor  the  elephant 
has  any  use  for  man,  and  primarily  would  escape  from 
him,  whereas  the  lion  will  hunt  man  upon  occasion,  as  a 
means  of  livelihood,  and  might  the  sooner  charge  an 
object  that  would  serve  his  purpose  as  food.  Elephants 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

and  buffaloes  may  be  and  frequently  are  encountered  in 
numbers,  whereas  lions  are  found  singly  or  in  twos  or 
threes;  it  is  seldom  that  large  bands  are  encountered, 
and  then  usually  when  they  are  changing  from  one 
hunting-ground  to  another.'  A  charging  elephant  is 
ponderously  irresistible,  and  his  vitality  preserves  his 
destructive  force  long  after  he  has  received  fatal  vital 
shots.  A  buffalo  is  a  very  large  animal,  much  larger 
than  the  American  bison,  seems  to  have  an  element  of 
vindictiveness,  and  also  possesses  great  vitality.  He  will 
live  for  hours  shot  through  one  lung,  and  may  recover, 
and  shot  through  both  will  live  long  enough  to  wreak 
vengeance  upon  a  sportsman.  In  order  to  cripple 
elephant,  buffalo,  lion,  or  rhino  you  must  break  bones, 
at  least  a  leg  or  shoulder.  A  disturbed  rhino  makes  a 
rush  in  the  direction  in  which  he  happens  to  be  headed, 
and  takes  everything  in  his  way.  His  desire  seems  to 
be  to  escape.  He  resents  intrusion,  is  stupid,  compara- 
tively, in  locating  his  danger,  and  strikes  out  wildly.  He 
does  not  pursue  one,  as  a  rule,  and  is  comparatively  easy 
to  avoid,  and  yet  he  is  capable  of  anything  and  every- 
thing, and  you  never  can  tell  what  he  will  do. 

An  incident  that  occurred  while  I  was  in  British  East 
Africa  illustrates  the  eccentricities  of  the  rhino.  Two 
sportsmen  were  in  their  tent  resting  after  a  hunt  when 
suddenly,  without  premonition,  a  rhino  charged  the 
tent,  of  course  knocking  it  down  and  injuring  one  of  the 
sportsmen  severely;  the  other  managed  to  get  out,  get 
his  gun,  and  shoot  him.  The  rhino  had  no  object  what- 
ever in  charging  that  tent;  the  probabilities  are  he  was 
passing  near  by,  came  within  range  so  as  to  get  the 
human  scent,  which  to  him  meant  danger,  and  imme- 

90 


ROUNDING-UP 

diately  charged,  following  the  scent,  with  the  result 
above  described.  In  nine  cases  out  of  ten  he  would 
have  taken  the  opposite  direction  to  escape  danger. 
As  stated  above,  they  are  not  vicious  and  have  no  use 
for  man,  but  are  uncomfortable  neighbors  because  they 
do  such  unaccountable  things. 

I  have  no  personal  knowledge  of  elephant-hunting. 
Elephant,  buffalo,  or  rhino  in  brush  or  reeds  or  thick 
cover  of  any  kind  are  difficult  to  avoid  when  they 
charge,  and  are  difficult  to  shoot  fatally  because  of  the 
interference  with  one's  aim;  vital  spots  may  be  screened 
or  protected.  It  is  in  such  circumstances  that  guns  of 
large  caliber  and  cartridges  of  crushing  force  are  needed. 
A  lion  in  cover  is  also  doubly  dangerous. 

In  this  connection  I  am  permitted  to  copy  from  a  letter 
from  H.  Lloyd  Folsom  to  his  father,  describing  some  of 
the  experiences  the  other  branch  of  our  party  had  with 
lions: 

In  Campy  March  19,  1913- 

MY  DEAR  FATHER, — Well,  we  have  killed  five  lions  on  our 
very  first  permanent  camp!  Lyman  went  out  and  killed  a 
zebra  for  bait,  and  the  boys  built  a  small  thorn-bush  protection 
called  a  boma,  and  Jack  went  in  for  the  first  night.  Zebra 
wasn't  especially  "high"  yet.  Then  Lyman  went  in  and  the 
lions  were  growling  and  snarling  at  him  all  around,  but  didn't 
come  in  close.  The  next  night  I  went  in  the  thing  and  was 
immediately  impressed  with  the  fact  that  if  a  lion  tried  to  get 
at  me  the  thorns  wouldn't  do  much  good  and  there  would  be 
a  grand  mix-up.  Then  came  the  most  nerve-racking  experi- 
ence of  my  life.  Suddenly  I  heard  a  long  sniflF  right  by  me — 
lion  investigating  the  boma!  Then  a  terrific  snarl — you  have 
to  hear  it  to  appreciate  it;  it  sends  a  chill  clear  through  you. 
She  didn't  like  me,  and  she  didn't  intend  to  let  me  interfere 
with  her  meal  on  that  ''crawling"  zebra.  Looked  out  through 

91 


ROUNDING-UP 

an  opening  and  saw  her  settling  down  between  the  legs  of  the 
bait.  Then  she  would  raise  her  head  and  look  over  her 
shoulder  at  me  and  snarl  way  down  in  her  throat.  At  this 
point  in  the  game  the  Express  went  off  and  did  its  job  right 
behind  her  shoulder.  Of  all  the  racket  you  ever  heard!  A 
lion's  roar  simply  rolls  along  the  ground  at  you  and  hits  you 
in  the  face.  Almost  immediately  her  mate,  a  big  lion  with  a 
red  mane,  came  along  to  see  what  it  was  all  about,  and  I  had 
just  enough  light  to  make  out  his  shoulder — he  got  a  .470 
plunk!  Thought  he  was  going  to  tear  the  whole  scenery  to 
pieces,  but  a  .470  isn't  exactly  the  thing  to  encourage  that 
business.  Then  in  about  half  an  hour  I  made  out  a  lioness 
standing  some  distance  away,  and  nailed  her.  She  came  right 
for  me  like  a  flash,  but  again  the  .470  was  too  much  for  her. 
I  think  she  meant  business  through  and  through,  and  I  don't 
mind  saying  that  when  a  big  black-tipped  lion  came  up  and 
fairly  snarled  in  my  face  (and  got  his  burned  for  his  pains) 
that  my  nerves  were  about  gone.  That  was  four  lions  dead. 
Then  a  big  lioness  came  and  proceeded  to  crawl  up  and  keep 
the  zebra  between  me  and  her,  hauled  his  tail  to  her  and 
started  to  eat  her  way  into  him — how  the  bones  crunched  and 
how  she  purred  and  growled!  She  knew  I  was  there,  and 
thought  herself  safe  enough.  Tried  the  Remington  then,  but 
couldn't  get  the  bullets  through  the  bait  at  her.  Finally  I 
plugged  a  .470  solid  in  her  direction,  and  you  can  bet  your 
life  that  went  through,  but  didn't  hit  her,  but  disturbed  her 
equilibrium.  She  raised  a  terrible  row  and  wasn't  in  the  least 
afraid.  Nevertheless,  she  knew  enough  not  to  expose  herself 
any  more  than  necessary,  and  as  daylight  began  to  come  she 
slunk  off. 

Now  comes  the  real  story.  Jack  wounded  her  the  next 
night,  and  when  we  came  up  to  him  in  the  morning  he  told  us 
about  it  and  we  saw  we  were  in  for  it.  We  all  got  together 
with  all  the  guns  available.  I  had  my  .405,  with  a  shot- 
gun loaded  with  ball  and  buckshot  for  the  close  work.  She 
made  for  the  thickest  place  in  all  Africa  and  got  in  the  middle 
of  it  and  waited — very  much  alive.  "A  lion  can  hide  behind 
his  own  head,"  and  when  he  once  charges  he  covers  one  hundred 

93 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

yards  in  eight  seconds.  If  you  have  an  Express  you  can  set 
off  both  barrels,  but  if  you  have  to  pump  a  Winchester  you 
will  be  lucky  to  get  in  one  shot.  I  am  speaking  of  shooting 
in  the  open  now.  This  lioness  was  absolutely  hidden,  and 
before  we  knew  it  we  were  on  top  of  her.  Again  that  awful 
snarl,  but  we  couldn't  see  her.  We  all  jumped  back  ready 
for  her,  but  we  hadn't  been  quite  close  enough  to  suit  her. 
I  think  the  only  reason  she  didn't  have  one  of  us  down  in  a 
flash  was  that  Jack's  bullet  had  torn  a  lot  of  the  ligaments 


ONE    NIGHT    IN    A        BOMA. 


H.    LLOYD    FOLSOM 


along  her  back,  and  then,  also,  she  had  some  pups  in  her, 
which  was  unfortunate,  but  couldn't  be  helped.  She  had 
started  to  come,  but  thought  better  of  it.  Why,  I  don't 
know,  unless  it  was  the  combination  of  her  wound  and  the 
pups.  Then  we  went  out  into  the  open  and  had  a  council  of 
war,  in  which  we  all  decided  that  our  skins  were  worth  more 
than  hers,  so  we  made  out  where  she  was  in  the  bushes  and 

94 


ROUNDING-UP 

started  volley-firing.  It  got  her,  and  that  was  Jack's  first 
lion.  If  I  ever  have  to  go  through  such  a  thing  again — as 
I  don't  intend  to — I  think  it  will  cure  me  of  all  desire  to  shoot 
lions.  Tarlton  has  given  it  up  long  ago  as  a  bad  job,  and  he 
is  a  crack  shot.  The  boma  part  of  it  is  comparatively  safe,  but 
suppose  one  gets  away  from  you,  what  may  happen  if  you  are 
fool  enough  to  go  in  after  him.  The  odds  are  three  to  one  in 
his  favor — even  if  you  do  hit  him.  The  range  in  such  con- 
dition becomes  almost  even  with  the  muzzle  of  the  gun,  in- 
stead of  one  hundred  yards.  Volley-firing  is  the  safest 
plan  if  you  succeed  in  locating  the  lion.  Of  course,  when 
you  get  him  in  fairly  open  country  he's  your  meat  if  you 
shoot  at  all  well — especially  when  you  have  other  guns  backing 
you  up. 

Folsom  is  a  remarkably  good  shot.  It  is  easy  to 
imagine  what  might  have  happened  to  him  in  his  boma 
if  he  had  shot  badly  and  wounded  his  lions  instead  of 
killing  them.  A  wounded^  lion  is  the  personification  of 
rage  and  destructive  energy. 

Popular  opinion  would  vote  the  lion  most  dangerous —       iy 
expert  opinion  would  perhaps  place  elephant  and  buffalo    ^ 
ahead  of  lion,  especially  as  you  are  likely  to  encounter 
these  animals  in  numbers.     All  would  agree,  I  think,  that 
the    rhino   is    least    dangerous    of   these    four   animals. 
They  are  all  dangerous,  and  each  sportsman  is  likely  to 
be  guided  by  his  own  experience  in  awarding  the  palm 
of  danger. 

Colonel  Roosevelt,  in  Scribner's  Magazine  for  October, 
1913,  says: 

As  I  have  elsewhere  said,  experienced  hunters  often  differ 
widely  in  their  estimates  as  to  how  the  different  kinds  of 
dangerous  game  rank  as  foes.  There  are  many  men  who 
regard  elephants  as  the  most  dangerous  of  all;  and  again 
there  are  many  others  who  regard  the  lion  and  the  buffalo 

95 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

as  beyond  comparison  more  formidable.  My  own  view  is 
that  there  is  a  very  wide  range  of  individual  variation  among 
the  individuals  of  each  species,  and,  moreover,  that  the  condi- 
tions of  country  and  surroundings  vary  so  that  one  must 
be  very  cautious  about  generalizing.  Judging  partly  from 
my  own  limited  experience  and  partly  from  a  very  careful 
sifting  of  the  statements  of  many  good  observers  with  far 
wider  experience,  I  believe  that,  taking  the  average  of  a 
large  number  of  cases  under  varied  conditions,  the  lion  is  the 
most  dangerous;  that  a  buffalo  that  does  charge,  especially  a 
bull,  when  it  has  actually  begun  its  charge,  is  more  dangerous 
than  a  lion  and  much  more  dangerous  than  an  elephant; 
that  a  single  elephant  is  less  dangerous  to  attack  than  a 
single  buffalo,  and  that  the  charge  of  an  elephant  is  more 
easily  stopped  or  evaded  than  that  of  a  buffalo;  but  that 
elephants  are  very  much  more  apt  themselves  to  attack  than 
are  buffaloes,  and  that  therefore  there  is  more  danger  in  the 
first  approach  of  an  elephant  herd  than  is  the  case  with 
buffaloes. 

I  received  a  letter  from  Lyman  N.  Hine,  briefly  re- 
viewing the  experiences  of  himself,  Terry,  and  Folsom. 
It  is  a  very  interesting  presentation,  and  serves  to  round 
out  the  doings  of  our  party  as  a  whole.  It  follows: 

After  seeing  you  and  Mr.  Pirie  disappear  from  view  on  your 
fiery  steeds,  Jack,  Lloyd,  Outram,  and  I  completed  our  prep- 
arations for  the  trip,  and  that  evening  with  our  entire  safari 
entrained  for  Kijabe.  The  Uganda  Railway  furnished  us 
with  a  hearty  meal  of  red  dust,  which  we  washed  down  with 
Nairobi  beer,  the  combination  forming  what  might  be  called 
a  stomachic  brick.  Our  feast  was  cut  short  by  the  train 
bumping  into  Kijabe  about  I  A.M.,  and  the  railway  rest- 
house  there  was  a  very  welcome  sight,  affording  us  a  com- 
fortable night's,  or  rather  morning's,  sleep. 

On  awakening  at  daybreak  we  had  the  first  real  view  of  our 
safari,  consisting  of  about  forty  natives,  four  mules,  and  two 
carts,  each  drawn  by  sixteen  oxen.  These  ox-carts  were  used 


>  o 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

as  our  base  of  supplies,  and  we  only  saw  them  about  four 
times  during  the  whole  trip.  I  might  say  here  that  only  four 
of  the  thirty-two  oxen  came  back  alive,  owing  to  the  tsetse- 
fly's  fondness  for  fresh  beef.  Unfortunately  I  ran  into  the 
owner  of  the  oxen  on  niy  return  to  Nairobi,  and  in  a  few 
minutes'  conversation  discovered  that  his  sense  of  humor 
had  been  badly  sprained  by  the  loss.  We  rode  mules  instead 
of  horses,  as  part  of  the  country  into  which  we  were  going 
was  sure  death  for  the  latter.  It  did  not  take  me  long  to 
discover  that  my  animal  was  to  be  the  bane  of  my  existence, 
and  I  became  converted  to  the  belief  in  the  transmigration  of 
souls,  and  to  the  theory  that  the  devil  himself  once  lived  on 
earth  and  after  death  reappeared  in  the  form  of  that  mule. 
He  was  not  content  with  bucking  until  my  saddle  slipped  off, 
and  I  with  it,  but  when  I  was  firmly  planted  on  earth  he 
would  stand  over  me,  with  one  ear  cocked  forward,  the  other 
backward,  a  sinister  sneer  in  his  satanic  eye,  and  carefully 
contemplate  whether  this  time  he  would  use  his  hoofs  or  his 
teeth  on  me  before  I  could  roll  out  of  the  way.  Jack,  Lloyd, 
and  Outram  fared  better  in  the  mule  proposition,  but  my  beast 
furnished  a  lot  of  amusement,  largely  at  my  expense,  and 
exercised  our  ingenuity  in  inventing  means  to  check  his  non- 
parlor  tricks.  We  found  a  twitch  operated  from  the  saddle 
to  be  the  best  remedy,  but  I  fear  the  mule  could  not  quite 
look  at  it  from  our  point  of  view.  He  never  became  quite 
reconciled  to  said  twitch. 

In  general,  our  route  was  southwest  from  Kijabe,  across  the 
southern  Guasinyero  to  the  border  of  German  East  Africa, 
then  along  the  border  in  a  southeasterly  direction  to  a  point 
about  south  of  Nairobi,  then  north  across  Lake  Magadi  (a 
caustic  soda  lake)  through  the  game  reserve  to  Nairobi. 
The  nature  of  the  country  was  quite  different  from  that 
which  I  judge  you  found.  The  altitude  varied  from  about 
seven  thousand  feet  above  the  sea-level  to  nine  hundred  feet 
above.  We  found  comparatively  few  open  plains,  and  the 
country  consisted  for  the  most  part  of  jungle,  thick  bush 
country,  long  grass,  and  occasionally  dried-up,  rolling  plains. 
This  nature  of  the  country  accounts  for  the  method  of  lion- 


ROUNDING-UP 


BOMA      AND   ZEBRA-KILL    FROM    WHICH    EIGHT   LIONS    WERE    KILLED 

shooting  which  we  employed  there — namely,  boma  shooting, 
at  which  Outram  excels. 

A  short  description  of  a  boma  might  interest  you,  as  I 
judge  you  had  none  of  this  kind  of  shooting.  A  boma  con- 
sists of  a  circlet  of  thick  branches  cut  from  surrounding  trees, 
the  center  of  which  is  large  enough  to  hold  a  white  man  and 
his  gun-bearer.  It  is  usually  between  five  and  six  feet  high. 
Its  purpose  is  to  serve  as  a  means  of  concealment,  but  I 
doubt  if  it  would  be  much  of  a  protection  should  the  lions 
try  to  get  in.  About  fifteen  feet  from  this  boma  a  bait, 
usually  a  dead  zebra,  is  placed.  This  bait,  before  being  put 
by  the  boma,  has  been  dragged  perhaps  five  or  six  miles  in 
order  to  lay  a  scent  to  attract  lions.  Fresh  bait  does  not 
seem  to  attract  lions  or  other  animals,  but  our  experience 
showed  that  the  "higher"  the  bait  became  the  greater  attrac- 
tion it  had  for  animals.  Hardly  a  night  in  a  boma  failed  to 
produce  something  of  interest.  It  might  be  a  pack  of  wild 
dogs  yelping  by  at  full  tilt,  chasing  game,  the  indescribable 
whir  of  a  leopard,  the  midnight  supper  of  hyenas  and  jackals, 
or  the  visit  of  lions.  An  opening  is  made  in  the  boma,  through 
which  to  shoot  in  the  direction  of  the  zebra.  I  say  "in  the 

99 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

direction  of  the  zebra,"  because  it  is  often  so  dark  that  you 
cannot  see  the  lion,  but  have  to  take  a  chance  at  hitting  him 
by  firing  where  you  think  he  is.  If  you  only  wound  him  you 
have  next  morning  the  ticklish  proposition  of  following  a 
wounded  lion.  The  inmate  of  the  boma  has  a  chance  to  see 
the  lion  feeding  at,  you  might"  say,  a  disagreeably  close  range. 
Boma-shooting  is,  of  course,  an  all-night  job,  the  hunter  going 
in  before  sunset  and  staying  there  until  dawn.  As  an  illustra- 
tion of  a  night  in  a  boma,  it  may  interest  you  to  hear  of  a  night 
that  Jack  and  I  spent  in  one. 

Immediately  after  we  entered  our  thorny  "couch"  things 
became  disagreeable.  The  rain  came  down  in  torrents,  com- 
pletely drenching  us  and  lasting  the  whole  night.  It  was  so 
dark  we  could  neither  see  the  bait  nor  the  sights  of  our  rifles, 
so  we  decided  if  a  lion  came  we  would  take  a  chance  and  fire 
in  its  general  direction.  We  could  hear  lions  grunting  as  soon 
as  it  became  dark,  and  we  waited,  expecting  to  hear  their 
grunts  sound  nearer  and  nearer.  We  were  disappointed  in 
this,  and  had  almost  given  up  hope  of  their  coming  when 
about  ten  o'clock,  when  everything  was  still,  we  suddenly 
heard  a  roar  and  snarl,  and  a  lioness  jumped  on  the  zebra, 
clawing  and  crunching  the  body  and  making  such  a  racket 
that  we  both  pretty  nearly  had  nervous  prostration.  You 
have  no  idea  what  a  fiendish  noise  they  make,  feeding.  In- 
tensify a  billion  times  the  gurglish  demonstrations  of  a  billion 
newly  rich  people  eating  soup,  and  you  will  have  a  small  idea 
of  some  of  the  sounds.  The  crunching  noise  defies  an  attempt 
at  description.  Presently  the  lioness  left  the  bait,  came  for 
the  boma,  and  started  clawing  at  it  within  two  feet  of  us.  We 
both  crouched,  with  our  rifles  ready  for  action,  should  she  try 
to  get  in.  We  couldn't  shoot,  because  we  couldn't  see  any- 
thing to  shoot  at,  and  at  that  close  range  a  random  shot 
would  only  have  made  matters  worse. 

We  had  to  stick  in  this  position  for  two  hours.  The  lioness 
occasionally  came  out  to  crunch  at  the  body,  and  then  would 
come  back  and  turn  her  attention  to  us.  Finally  we  thought 
the  lioness  had  gone  away,  as  for  a  long  time  we  heard  no  sound 
from  her.  So  Jack  and  I  decided  to  lie  down  and  rest.  We 

100 


ROUNDING-UP 

were  in  this  position  for  about  half  an  hour  when  we  decided 
we  would  take  a  look  through  the  opening  to  see  what  was 
doing.  We  had  both  got  our  faces  at  the  opening  and  were 
peering  out  when,  quick  as  a  flash,  came  a  roar  from  the 
lionesss,  only  six  inches  from  our  faces.  It  seems  she  had 
been  on  a  tour  of  inspection  and  happened  to  be  scrutiniz- 
ing the  opening  at  the  very  moment  we  decided  to  satisfy 
our  curiosity  by  peeping  out.  Jack,  who  had  his  gun-barrel 
in  the  opening,  pulled  the  trigger,  and  after  the  roar  of  the 
gun  all  was  quiet.  We  had  to  wait  until  daylight  before  we 
could  find  out  the  result  of  that  shot. 

On  coming  out  of  the  boma  at  dawn  we  found  blood  spoor, 
showing  that  the  bullet  had  hit  its  mark,  but  no  sign  of  the 
beast.  We  tracked  her  where  she  had  gone  into  the  thick 
bush,  and  then  Outram  and  Lloyd  came  up  and  we  decided  to 
go  in  after  her.  We  went  single  file  through  the  thick  stuff, 
with  our  guns  ready,  as  we  did  not  know  whether  she  was 
ten  feet  or  three-quarters  of  a  mile  away,  and  had  to  be 
ready  for  anything.  We  were  just  next  to  a  very  thick  bush 
when  Outram,  who  was  behind  me,  yelled,  "Look  out,  here 
she  comes!"  And  not  ten  feet  away  we  heard  the  terrible 
roar  a  lion  gives  preliminary  to  the  spring,  and  just  had  time 
to  jump  back  and  turn,  ready  to  fire.  She  was  so  close  to  us 
that  had  she  made  a  spring  she  would  have  inevitably  got 
one  of  us.  Luckily  for  us,  however,  she  did  not  spring,  the 
reason  being  that  Jack's  shot  during  the  night  had  ripped  the 
muscles  in  her  back  so  that  she  was  half  paralyzed.  She  had 
evidently  been  waiting  for  us  to  get  within  springing  distance 
of  her  before  letting  us  know  of  her  whereabouts.  Not  a 
sound  did  she  make  until  that  terrific  roar.  We  got  out  of  the 
thick  bush  as  quickly  as  possible,  into  a  small  open  space, 
from  where  we  could  peer  into  the  bush  where  the  lioness  was. 
A  shot  as  she  lay  there  finished  her. 

I  suppose  the  variety  to  be  got  in  the  country  we  hunted 
was  about  the  same  as  what  you  found.  It  is  possible  to  get 
zebras,  kongoni,  Grants,  impala,  Tommies,  wildebeests,  ro- 
bertsi,  giraffes,  topi,  elands,  waterbucks,  bushbucks,  klip- 
springers,  mountain-ree^-bucks,  rhinoceroses,  roan  antelopes, 

101 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

greater  and  lesser  kudu,  lions,  Colobus  monkeys,  and  other 
animals  too  numerous  to  mention. 

These  young  men  had  flattering  success  in  securing 
wonderful  trophies  of  the  vajious  kinds  of  game  available 
in  the  territory  comprised  within  their  hunt. 

We  were  all  supplied  with  photographic  apparatus, 
and  succeeded  fairly  well  with  our  pictures.  Hine  car- 
ried a  tripod  and  kinetoscope  from  New  York,  a  cumber- 
some and  troublesome  bit  of  baggage,  but  his  enthusiasm 
was  well  repaid,  as  he  secured  some  first-class  moving 
pictures. 

Guns 


Distinguished  Africanders >of  much  experience,  like 
'arl  E.  Akeley,  Cuninghame,  and  others,  think  that  a 
.450  rifle  or  one  of  larger  capacity  is  indispensable  to 
one's  safety,  and  such  opinions  may  be  accepted  as  con- 
clusive. It  requires  no  argument  to  prove  that  the 
larger  the  bore  and  the  stronger  the  charge  of  powder, 
the  more  destructive  will  be  the  weapon,  but  a  well- 
placed  smaller  bullet  will  prove  effective  when  a  badly 
placed  larger  one  would  not. 

The  gun  should  be  adapted  to  the  man  and  should  be 
no  heavier  in  weight  than  he  can  handle  with  ease  and 
reasonable  celerity,  and  the  cartridge,  while  it  must  be 
effective,  should  not  involve  a  charge  so  heavy  as  to 
invite  flinching  from  the  recoil  or  otherwise  interfere 
with  accuracy  of  aim. 

Mr.  Selous  says: 

The  best  weapon  for  elephants  and  buffaloes,  which  are 
usually  met  with  in  dense  jungle  or  bamboo  forest,  where  it 

102 


ROUNDING-UP 

may  be  impossible  to  obtain  a  picked  shot,  is  the  heaviest 
cordite  rifle  a  man  can  use  with  ease  and  comfort.  For  a 
man  of  medium  weight  and  build  a  .450  or  .470  bore  is  quite 
heavy  enough.1 

For  soft-skinned  animals  Mr.  Selous  favors  small- 
bore rifles  and  favorably  mentions  calibers  ranging  from 
.256  to  .303.  Ex-President  Roosevelt  used  with  excel- 
lent results  the  American  army  Springfield  rifle,  .280 
caliber,  with  short-pointed  bullet. 

R.  J.  Cuninghame  says: 

During  the  Roosevelt  expedition  I  had  ample  opportunity 
to  observe  the  effect  of  the  pointed  bullet.  The  rifle  used  by 
ex-President  Roosevelt  was  not  a  Ross,  but  an  American  army 
Springfield,  firing  a  very  sharp,  solid  bullet.  The  trajectory  is 
extremely  flat  and  the  smashing  power  on  such  game  as  ante- 
lope was  quite  remarkable.2 

Rowland  Ward,  in  his  Sportsman  s  Handbook,  presents 
the  views  of  Selous  and  Cuninghame  approvingly. 

Personally,  for  dangerous  game  I  want  an  automatic 
rifle,  so  that  the  whole  magazine  will  be  at  my  fingers' 
end  without  the  trouble  or  delay  of  working  a  bolt  or 
lever  action.  Where  allowed  by  law  to  shoot  but  a 
single  animal,  and  very  likely  be  compelled  to  hunt  for 
days  or  even  weeks  for  that  opportunity,  I  also  want  an 
automatic.  Many  times  they  insure  success  when  a 
lever  or  bolt  action  might  result  in  failure.  I  am  quite 
aware  that  there  are  experts  who  can  shoot  bolt  and  lever 
action  guns  with  phenomenal  rapidity  and  accuracy. 
I  have  in  mind  the  busy  man  who  goes  afield  once  a 
year  for  his  vacation  and  whose  maximum  grade  would 
be  a  "fairly  good  shot" — not  an  expert. 

1  Rowland  Ward's  Sportsman's  Handbook.  2  Ibid. 

103 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

I  have  used  for  years  with  great  satisfaction  the  .35 
Automatic  Remington  and  the  .405  Winchester.  These 
guns  are  equal  to  any  game  on  the  North  American  con- 
tinent, and  with  moderate,  exceptions  any  game  any- 
where. 

Continual  hunting  in  Africa  will  bring  experiences 
where  the  shocking  power  of  more  powerful  cartridges 
than  these  guns  use  is  necessary  to  stop  or  turn  game 
and  preserve  one's  life.  A  man  always  has  two  guns; 
I  had  thi©e — the  .35  Remington  in  my  saddle  scabbard, 
a  .450.500,  and  a  Mannlicher-Schoenauer  .256  Magnum 
pattern — with  my  two  gun-bearers.  The  .450-. 500  is  a 
good,  powerful  gun  and  well  known.  The  .256  has  a 
sharp-pointed  bullet,  both  solid  and  soft-nose,  three 
thousand  feet  initial  velocity,  very  flat  trajectory,  and 
was  most  satisfactory.  The  destructive  power  of  these 
soft-nose  bullets  on  all  soft -skinned  animals  was  won- 
derful. 


XII 

EXPENSE 

"God  gives  no  value  unto  man 

Unmatched  by  meed  of  labor, 
And  cost  of  worth  has  ever  been 
The  closest  neighbor." 

AN[  African  big -game  hunt  costs  money,  it  costs 
time,  it  costs  hard  work,  and  it  costs  inconvenience 
and  annoyance  from  insectivora  and  excessive  heat,  and 
involves  exposure  to  possible  local  and  climatic  disease. 
The  experience,  the  pleasure,  and  general  satisfaction 
of  the  trip  surpass  all  cost  and  all  risk.  If  what  you  get 
by  way  of  outfitting  and  what  you  pay  for  were  a  little 
closer  neighbors,  it  would  be  more  satisfactory.  They 
tell  you  to  beware  the  charge  of  the  elephant,  the  buffalo, 
the  lion,  and  the  rhino,  but  there  is  another  charge  that 
many  think  falls  within  the  danger  zone,  and  from  which 
there  is  no  escape — the  charge  of  the  outfitters.  They 
look  after  their  safaris  and  give  them  good  service,  and 
if  their  charges  seem  to  follow  the  rule  formerly  in  vogue 
with  our  railroads  in  fixing  freight  charges,  of  charging 
"what  the  traffic  will  bear/'  per  contra,  they  do  their 
business  systematically  and  well,  look  after  their  safaris 
painstakingly  and  most  efficiently,  and  that  is  a  service 
for  which  one  can  afford  to  pay. 

105 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

The  cost  of  reaching  British  East  Africa  depends 
largely  upon  the  line  of  travel  selected.  If  you  take  the 
North  Atlantic  route  and  go  by  rail  across  Europe  to 
Marseilles  or  Naples,  if  you  -take  a  cabine  de  luxe  instead 
of  less  expensive  quarters,  if  you  are  entertained  by  and 
entertain  your  friends  en  route,  the  expense  will  be 
larger  in  proportion.  Two  hundred  dollars  will,  how- 
ever, buy  a  ticket,  with  a  good  room,  from  Marseilles  or 
Naples  to  Mombasa,  and  fifteen  dollars  will  take  you 
by  rail  on  to  Nairobi.  The  cheaper  route  would  be  by 
steamer  from  New  York  to  Naples. 

The  expense  of  my  hunt  from  my  arrival  in  Nairobi 
until  my  departure  for  home  was  slightly  under  two 
thousand  dollars,  lessened,  undoubtedly,  because  of  the 
fact  that  I  had  a  partner.  License,  not  including 
elephant,  accounted  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars, 
loss  on  horses  (my  share)  about  two  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars.  If  you  are  young  and  strong  and  time  is  no  object, 
you  can  do  your  hunting  and  trekking  on  foot.  If  your 
time  is  valuable  and  you  wish  to  avail  yourself  of  every 
chance  to  get  game  ( I  could  not  have  got  my  lion 
unmounted),  then  horses  are  desirable  and  an  economic 
investment.  They  come  high,  considering  the  quality, 
and  you  must  buy  and  transport  by  porters  grain  for 
their  sustenance.  We  lost  two  from  tsetse- flies,  and 
the  remaining  two  seemed  fly-struck,  which  is  always 
fatal. 

If  you  have  a  large  safari  some  one  who  can  speak  the 
native  language  is  indispensable  to  handle  it;  an  experi- 
enced man  will  save  money  and  trouble,  especially  in 
view  of  the  labor  complications  now  obtaining.  My 
share  of  the  amount  paid  our  two  guides  was  five  hundred 

1 06 


EXPENSE 

and  twenty-five  dollars,  for  two  months,  and  in  my  case 
it  was  an  excellent  investment.  We  might  have  got 
along  very  well  indeed  with  one,  but  we  wanted  results 
more  than  economy.  With  a  small  safari  this  item 
could  be  greatly  reduced  and  perhaps  omitted  altogether, 
but  not  wisely,  I  think.  No  one  without  experience 
knows  how  to  hunt  in  that  country,  and  it  is  cheaper  to 
pay  a  guide  than  pay  for  your  own  blunders.  Tested 
from  any  American  standpoint,  the  labor  seemed  very 
cheap;  the  food  supply  was  expensive,  as  you  would 
naturally  expect  in  a  new  and  remote  country.  Posho, 
upon  which  jthe_negroes-^iib*ist,  together  with  the  game 
you  supply  them,  is  coarsely  ground  corn.  The  principal 
expense  with  reference  to  that  lies  in  the  number  of  por- 
ters necessary  to  carry  the  same.  If  two  sportsmen 
occupy  the  same  tent  it  saves  the  cost  of  one  tent,  one 
tent-boy,  and  two  porters. 

In  many  ways  the  expense  may  be  toned  down,  but 
hunting  in  Africa  is  a  luxury  and  should  be  so  treated; 
the  experience  you  have  and  the  trophies  you  get  make 
it  worth  many  ordinary  vacations;  economize  on  the 
ordinary  vacations  and  save  up  for  this  one.  Whether 
young  or  old,  rich  or  poor,  unacclimated  in  that  strange 
country,  under  a  tropical  sun,  it  is  better  to  pay  for 
guides,  and  horses  even,  rather  than  risk  taking  it  out 
of  your  constitution. 

A  very  large  item  of  expense  comes  from  the  cost  of 
curing,  caring  for,  treating,  and  shipping  your  trophies. 
It  runs  up  into  surprisingly  large  figures,  but  all  this 
can  easily  be  saved  by  missing  instead  of  hitting. 


There  is  no  rest,  nothing  static  in  nature  or  in  life; 

107 


THE    STORY    OF    AN    OUTING 

sound,  light,  color,  heat — in  short,  life  is  motion;    only 
the  dead  are  at  rest. 

A  vacation  consists  in  going  away  somewhere  and  get- 
ting another  kind  of  tire;  a.  tire  which  enables  you  to 
return  and  appreciate  the  comforts  of  your  home,  the 
society  of  your  friends,  the  nobility  of  your  calling,  and 
resume  your  functions  as  a  useful  factor  in  the  economy 
of  life  with  energy  and  confidence. 


The  North  Star  in  the  northern  hemisphere,  the  South- 
ern Cross  in  the  southern  hemisphere,  serve  to  point 
direction  and  guide  the  traveler's  course;  in  all  hemi- 
spheres there  is  a  lodestone  that  compels  the  wanderer's 
course  and  sets  his  pace,  and  that  lodestone  is  the 
hearthstone. 


THE    LODESTONE 


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